BRINLEY. 


y^Av^  / 


"fil^JX     /M^c/T^'-'- 


J  1 ,     'U'^^i 


Juft  Publiflied, 
And  fold  by  Rogers  and  Fowk  m  Queen:Stt'ectJ . 

Dr.  Watts' % 

Orthodoxy  and  Charity  united : 

In  feveral  Reconciling 

ESSAYS 

ON    THE 

Law  and  Gofpel,   Faith   and   Works    \ 


VIZ. 


Essay  I.  The  Subftance  or 
Matter  of  tlie  Gofpel. 

II.  The  Form  of  the  Gofpel. 

III.  The  Ufe  of  the  Law  under 
the  Gofpel. 

IV.  MilUken  Ways  of  coming 
to  God   without  Chrijl. 

V.  A  plain  and  eafy  Account  of 
Saving  Faith,  or  coming  to 
God  by  Jejus  Chrijl. 


VI.  A  Reconciling  Thought  on 
various  Controverfies  about 
Faith  and  Salvation. 

VII.  Againft    Uncharitablenefs. 

VIIL  The  Difficulties  in  Scrip- 
ture, and  the  different  Opinions 
of  Chriftians. 

IX.  An  Apology  for  Chriftiana 
of  different  Sentiments. 


Speaking  the  Truth  in  Love.  Kph.  iv.  15. 
The  Second  Edition, 


,b3rnitJu1  ill.  ,^ 


iCI 


■-17 


« 


Mr.  Maybezv's 

DISCOURSE 

,.  Wlierem 

The  Myftcry  of  King  Chark.^^ 

Saintfaip  and   Martyrdom 
is  unriddled. 


Advertifement. 

CT^H  E  author  of  this  difcourfe  has  been  credibly  informed,  that  fame 
perfons,  both  formerly  and  lately,  have  wrote  either  at,  or  about 
him  —  or  fomething  ;  (  he  cannot  well  tell  what  )  in  the  common 
news  papers,  which  he  does  not  often  read.  He,  therefore,  takes  this  op- 
portunity to  affure  the  writers  of  that  rank,  and  in  that  form,  once  for 
all,  that  they  may  flar.der  him  as  much  as  they  pleafe,  without  his  notice^ 
and,  very  probably,  without  his  knowledge.  But  if  atiy  perfon  of  com- 
mon fenfe  and  common  honefty,  fhall  condefcend  to  animadvert  in  a 
different  way^  upon  any  thing  which  he  has  publiftjcd,  he  may  depend 
upon   having  all  proper  regard  pozvn  to  him. 

J.  M. 


The  principal  Errata  of  the   prefs,  are  as  follows. 

"page  29.  line  10,  from    the   bottom,  infert  the  word  and  before  if. 
p.   31.  1.  4,  from  the  bottom,  for  perfon  read  perfons.  p.  42.  1.  7, 
from  the  top,  dele  new  and,  before  arbitrary.     Errors  in  the   pointing 
are  left  to  be  correfted  by  the  reader.  j^ 


A 

DISCOURSE 

CONCERNING 

Unlimited   Submiffion 

AND 


TO     THE 

Higher  Powers: 

With    fome    Reflections   on   the    Resistance    made   to 

King   Charles   I. 

Andonthe 

Annivcrfary    of  his   Death  : 

In  which   the   mysterious  Doflrine    of  that  Prince's 
Saintfhip   and  Martyrdom  is  unriddled  : 

The  Subftance  of  which  was  delivered  in  a  S  e  r  m  o  n  preached  in 
the  Weft  Meeting- Hcufe  in  Bojlon  the  Lord's  Day  after  the 
30th   of  January,    1749  |   50. 

Publijhed   at    the   Requeji    of    the   Hearers. 

By  Jonathan  Mayhew,  A.  M. 

Paftor    of  the    Weft    Church    in    Bcp». 

Fear    GOD,    honor   the    King.  Saint    Paul. 

He    that  ruleth   over   Men,  viufi  he  juft,  ruling  in  the  Fear  of  GOD. 

Prophet  Samuel. 
1  have  faid,  ye  are  Gods —  hut  ye  Jhall  die  like  Men,  and  fall  like 
one  of  the  PRINCES.  King   David, 

Quid    memorem    infandas  ca:des  ?     quid  fa»fla  TYRANNI 
Ertcra    ?     Dii    CAPITI    ipfius  CENERIQUE    refcrvent— 
Nccnon    Thre'icius   longa    cum  <vrjh    SACERDOS 
Obloquitur — —  Rom.    Vat.  Prin. 

BOSTON,   Printed    and  Sold   by    D.    Fowi.e    in   Queen  ftreet  ; 
and  by  D.  Gookim  over  againft  ihe  South  Meeting  Houle.    1750. 


'J'  'ijp  •$'  '$•  "ic  'I'  "J'  '^  '*'  '^  'i^  ^^  'J'  '■J'  ^H?  'ijr  'J''  'I?  s!<>  '■J'  'i!?  'i^ ' J*  'I?  "J*  '5?  'ift» 


PREFACE. 


Qy  HE  enfuing  difcourfe  is  the  laji  of  three  upon  the 
JL     fame  fuhje5f,  with  feme  little   alterations  and  addi- 
tions.    It  is   hoped  that  hut    few    will   think    the 
Juhjeui  of  it  an  improper    one   to  he   difcourfed    on  in   the 
pulpit^  under  a  notion  that  this  is  preaching  politics^  jfifead 
of  CHRIST.     However^  to  remove  all  prejudices  of  this 
fart,  I  heg  it  may  he  rememhred,   that  "  all  fcriptwe  —  ts 
profitahle  for  do^rinejor  reproof,  for  COHREOTIONJor 
injlruufion  in  righteoufnefs.''  *     Wh)\  then,  fJjould  not  ihofe 
parts  of  fcripture  which  relate  to  civil  government,  he  ex- 
amined and  explained  from  the  defn,  as  well  as  others  ?  Che- 
dience   to  the  civil  maglslrate  is  a  chrHiian  duty  :   and  if 
fo,  why  fhould  not  the  nature,  grounds  and  extent  of  it  he 
confidered  in  a  chriflian  affemhly  ?  Befides,  if  it  he  faid,  that 
it  is  out  of  character  for  a  chriflian  minifter  to  meddle  with 
fuch  a  fuhjc5i,  this  cenfure  will  at  lajl  fall  upon  the  holy 
apofiles.     They  zvrite  upon  it  in  their  epiilles  to  chriHian 
churches  :  And  furely  it  cannot  he  deemed  either  crimir.al  or 
impertinent^  to  attempt  an  explanation  of  their  dcFaine. 

IT  was  the  near  approach  of  the  Tiilrtleth  of  January, 
that  turned  my  thoughts  ta  this  fuhje^l  :  on  which  folemnit- 
the  flavifh  do^rine  of  pajfivs  obedienc:  <^nd  non-rejiflan' 

■     :   Pet.    iii.    \G.  eehU 


PREFACE. 

7S  often  warmly  ajjcrted  -,  and  the  dijfenters  from  the  ejia.- 
hlijhed  churchy  reprefented^  not  only  as  feifmatics,  {with  more 
of  triumph  than  of  truths  and  of  c holer  than  chriflianity) 
hut  alfo    as  perfons  of  feditious^  trailer ous  and  rebellious 
principles — GOT>  he  thanked  one  may^   in  any  part  of  the 
hritini  dominions^  fpcak  freely  [if  a  decent  regard  be  paid 
to  thofe  in  authority)  both  of  government  and  religion  \  and 
even  give  fame  broad  hints ^  that  he  is  engaged  on  the  fide 
vf  Liberty^  the  BIBLE   and  Common  Senfe^    in  oppofuion 
io  Tyranny,  PRIEST-CRAFT  and  Non-fenfe^  without  being 
in  danger  either  of  the  baflile  or   the  inquifition  : — Though 
there  zvill  always  he  fome  inter  eft  ed  politicians  ^  con  traced 
bigots^  and  hypocritical  zealots  for  a  party,  to  take  offence 
at  fuch  freedoms.     Their  cenjure  is  praife  :  Thtir praife 
is  infamy — A  fpirit  of  domination  is  always  to  be  guarded 
againfl  both  in  church  and  fiate^  even  in  times  of  the  great efi 
feciirity  ;    fiuh  as   the  prefent  is  amongjl  US  ;    at  leafl  as 
io  the  latter.     Thofe  nations  who  are  now  groaning  under 
the  iron  fcepter  of  tyranny,  were  once  free.     So  they  mighty 
probably,  have  remained,  by  a  feafonable  precaution  againfl 
defpotic  meafures.     Civil  tyranny  is  ufually  fmall   in  its  be- 
ginning, like  "  the  drop  of  a  bucket,^*  *    till  at  length, 
like  a  mighty  torrent,  or  the  raging  waves  of  the  fea,  it 
hears  doivn  all  before  it,  and  deluges  whole  countries  and 
empires.     Thus  it  is  as  to  eccleftaflical  tyranny  alfo, — the 
mofi  cruel,  intolerable  and  impious,   of  any.     From  fmall 
beginnings,  "  it  exalts  itfelf  above  all  that  is  called GO'D 
'•  and  that  is  worfljipped''  f    People    have  no  fecurity 

Ifai,  xi.    15.        f  2  Thef.   ii.    4; 

againfl 


PREFACE. 

againn  king  unmercifully  prieft-ridden,  hut  by  keeping  all 
imperious  BISHOPS,  and  other  CLERGYMEN  who  love 
to  "  lord  ii  over  God's  heritage,**  from  getting  their  foot 
into  the  ftirrup  at  all.  Let  them  be  once  fairly  mounted, 
and  their  "  beafls,  the  laiety**  \.  may  prance  and  flounce 
about  to  no  purpofe  :  And  they  will,  at  length,  be  fo  jaded 
and  hack'd  by  thefe  reverend  jockies,  that  they  will  not 
even  have  fpirits  enough  to  complain,  that  their  backs  are 
galled  ;  or,  like  Balaam'^  afs,  to  "  rebuke  the  madnefs 
**  of  the  prophet**  \\ 

"  THE  m^ fiery  of  iniquity  began  to  work**  -f  even 
in  the  days  of  fame  of  the  apoHles.  But  the  kingdotn  of 
ylntichrifl  was  then,  in  one  refpe5l,  like  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  however  different  in  all  others. — //  was  '•'■  as  a 
*'  grain  of  mujlard-feed.  **  *  This  grain  was  fown  in 
Italy,  that  fruitful  field  :  And  though  it  were  "  the  haft 
"  of  all  feeds**  it  foon  became  a  mighty  tree.  It  has., 
long  fince,  overfpread  and  darkned  the  greatefl  part  of 
Chriftendom,  fo  that  we  may  apply  to  it  what  is  faid  of 
the  tree  which  Nebuchadnezzar  faw  in  his  vifien —  "  The 
"  height  thereof  reacheth  unto  heaven,  and  the  fight  thereof 
*'  to  the  end  of  all  the  earth— Ami  THE  BEASTS  OF 
*'  THE  FIELD  have  fJjadow  under  it.**  Tyranny  brings 
ignorance  and  brutality  along  with  it.  It  degrades  men 
from  their  jufl  rank,  into  the  clafs  of  brutes.  It  damps  their 
fpirits.  It  fuppreffes  arts.  It  extingiitfhes  every  fpark  of 
noble  ardor  and  generofity  in  the  breafis  of  thofe  who  are 
enflaved  by  it.     It  makes  naturally-Jlrong  and  great  minds, 

\  Mr.  LrJIie.     ^    z  Pet.  ii.   16.     f  2  Thei.  ii  7.     *  Mat.  xiii.  ^i, 

feeble 


PREFACE. 

feeble  and  little  ;  and  triumphs  over  the  ruins  of  virtue 
and  humanity.  This  is  true  of  tyranny  in  every  Jhape. 
There  can  be  nothing  great  and  goody  where  its  influence 
reaches.  For  which  reafon  it  becomes  every  friend  to  truth 
and  human  kind  ;  every  lover  of  God  and  the  chriflian 
religion^  to  bear  a  part  in  oppoftng  this  hateful  monfter.  It 
was  a  defire  to  contribute  a  mite  towards  carrying  on  a  war 
againfl  this  common  enemy,  that  produced  the  following  dif- 
courfe.  And  if  it  ferve  in  any  meafure,  to  keep  up  a  fpirit 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty  amongft  us,  my  end  is  an' 
fwered. — There  are  virtuous  and  candid  men  in  all  fe5ls  ; 
all  fuch  are  to  ie  efteemed  :  There  are  alfo  vicious  men 
and  bigots  in  all  Jecfs  ;  and  all  fuch  ought  to  be  defpifed. 

"  To  virtue  only  and  her  friends,  a  friend ; 
"  The  world    befide   may  murmur  or  commend. 
"  Know,  all  the  diflant   din    that  world  can   keep 
"  Rolls  o'er  my  grotto,  and  but   fooths  my  fleep." 

Pope. 


onathan  May  hew. 


Concerning  Unlimited  Submiffion 
and    Non-Refiftance     to  the 

Higher  Powers. 


ROM.    XIII.     I, 


I .  Let  every    foul  be  fuhjeSl   unto  the    higher  pozvers.      For  there  is 
no  poiver  but    of  God :  the  po-wers    that    be,  are  ordained  of  God. 
■    2.  Whofoever  therefore  refifleth  the  poiuer,    rejijieth  the  ordinance  of 
God :     and  they    that    rejiji,  fhall  recci've  to   themfelves  damnation. 

3.  For  rulers  are  not  a  terror  to  good  ivorks,  but  to  the  evil. 
Wilt  thou  then  not  be  afraid  of  the  ponuer  ?  do  that  uuhich  is 
good,    and  thou  Jlyalt   have   praife    of  the  fame  : 

4.  For  he  is  the  minijler  of  God  to  thee  for  good.  But  if  thou 
do  that  which  is  evil,  be  afraid ;  for  he  beareth  not  the  fvcord 
in  vain  :  for  he  is  the  minijler  of  God,  a  revenger  to  execute 
ifjrath   upon   him  that   doth  evil. 

5.  Wherefore  ye  muji  needs  be  fubje£l,  not  only  for  lurath,  but 
alfo  for   confcience  fake. 

6.  For,  for  this  caufe  pay  you  tribute  alfo  :  for  they  are  God's 
triinifters,   attending    continually   upon    this    very   thing. 

7.  Render  therefore  to  all  their  dues  :  tribute  to  ivhom  tribute  is 
due  i  cuflom,  to  vjhom  cujiom  ifear,  to  whom  fear  j  honour,  to  vchom 
honour, 

IT  is  evident  that  the  affair  of  civil  government  may 
properly  fall  under  a  moral  and  religious  confidera- 
tion,  at  leafl:  fo  far  forth  as  it  relates  to  the  general 
nature  and  end  of  magiftracy,  and  to  the  grounds 
and  extent  of  that  fubmiffion   which  perfons  of  a  private 
charader,  ought  to  yield  to  thofe  who  are  vefced  with 

B  authority. 


2  Of  unlimited  Stihmijfion^    and 

authority.  This  muft  be  allowed  by  all  who  acknov;- 
ledge  the  divine  original  of  chriftianity.  For  although 
there  be  a  fenfe,  and  a  very  plain  and  important  fenfe9 
in  which  Chrift*s  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  ;  f  his  in- 
fpired  apoftles  have,  neverthelefs,  laid  down  fome  general 
principles  concerning  the  office  of  civil  rulers,  and  the 
duty  of  fubjedls,  together  with  the  reafon  and  obligation 
of  that  duty.  And  from  hence  it  follows,  that  it  is  pro- 
per for  all  who  acknowledge  the  authority  of  Jefus  Chrift, 
and  the  infpiration  of  his  apoftles,  to  endeavour  to  under- 
Itand  what  is  in  fadl  the  dodtrine  which  they  have  deli- 
vered concerning  this  matter.  It  is  the  duty  of  chrijlian 
magiftrates  to  inform  themfelves  what  it  is  which  their 
religion  teaches  concerning  the  nature  and  defign  of  their 
office.  And  it  is  equally  the  duty  of  all  chrijiian  peo- 
ple to  inform  themfelves  what  it  is  which  their  religion 
teaches  concerning  that  fubjedlion  which  they  owe  to 
the  higher  powers.  It  is  for  thefe  reafons  that  I  have 
attempted  to  examine  into  the  fcripture- account  of  this 
matter,  in  order  to  lay  it  before  you  with  the  fame 
freedom  which  I  conflantly  ufe  with  relation  to  other 
dodlrines  and  precepts  of  chriftianity  ;  not  doubting 
but  you  will  judge  upon  every  thing  offered  to  your 
confideration,  with  the  fame  fpirit  o^  freedom  and  liberty 
with  which  it  is  fpoken. 

The  paiTage  read,  is  the  mofl  full  and  exprefs  of  any 
in  the  new-teftament,  relating  to  rulers  and  fubje£l&  i 
And  therefore  I  thought  it  proper  to  ground  upon  it, 
■what  I   had  to  propofe  to  you  with  reference  to  the 

■\  John  xviii.  36. 

authority. 


No7i-ReftJlance  to  the  Higher  Powers,     3 

authority  of  the  civil  magiftrate,  and  the  fubjeftion 
which  is  due  to  him.  But  before  I  enter  upon  an  ex- 
planation of  the  feveral  parts  of  this  paflage,  it  will 
be  proper  to  obferve  one  thing  which  may  ferve  as  a 
key  to  the  whole  of  it. 

It  is  to  be  obferved,  then,  that  there  were  fomc 
perfons  amongft  the  chrijiians  of  the  apoftolic  age,  and 
particularly  thofe  at  Rome^  to  whom  St.  Paul  is  here 
writing,  who  feditioufly  difclaimed  all  fubjedion  to  civil 
authority  ;  refufing  to  pay  taxes,  and  the  duties  laid 
upon  their  trafic  and  merchandize  -,  and  who  fcrupled 
not  to  fpeak  of  their  rulers,  without  any  due  regard 
to  their  office  and  charadler.  Some  of  thefe  turbulent 
chrijiians  were  converts  from  judaifm^  and  others  from 
paganifm.  The  Jews  in  general  had,  long  before  this 
time,  taken  up  a  ftrange  conceit,  that  being  the  pecU' 
liar  and  ele^  people  of  God,  they  were,  therefore,  ex- 
empted from  the  jurifdi(ftion  of  any  heathen  princes  or 
governors.  Upon  this  ground  it  was,  that  fome  of 
them,  during  the  public  miniftry  of  our  bleffed  Saviour, 
came  to  him  with  that  queftion — Is  it  lawful  to  give 
tribute  unto  Cefar  cr  not  ?  *  And  this  notion  many  of 
them  retained  after  they  were  profelyted  to  the  chri- 
Jlian  faith.  As  to  the  gentile  converts,  fome  of  them 
grofly  miftook  the  nature  of  that  liberty  which  the  gof- 
pel  promifed  ;  and  thought  that  by  virtue  of  their 
fubjedlion  to  Chrift,  the  only  King  and  Head  of  his 
church,  they  were  wholly  freed  from  fubjeflion  to  any 
other  prince  j  as  tho*  Chrift's  kingdom  had  been  of  this 

*  Matth.  xxii.   17. 

worldy 


4       Of  unlimited  Suhmijfton^  and 

worlds  in  fuch  a  fenfe  as  to  interfere  with  the  civil 
powers  of  the  earth,  and  to  deliver  their  fubjeds  from 
that  allegiance  and  duty,  which  they  before  owed  to 
them.  Of  thefe  vifionary  chrijiians  in  general,  who  dif- 
owned  fubjedion  to  the  civil  powers  in  being  where 
they  refpedtively  lived,  there  is  mention  made  in  feveral 
places  in  the  new-teflament :  The  apoftle  Peter  in  par- 
ticular, charadlerizes  them  in  this  manner — them  that—' 
defpije  government — prefumptuous  are  they^  felf-willedy  they 
are  not  afraid  to  fpeak  evil  of  dignities,  -f  Now  it  is 
■with  reference  to  thefe  doting  chriffians,  that  the 
apoftle  fpeaks  in  the  pafTage  before  us.  And  I  fhall 
now  give  you  the  fenfe  of  it  in  a  paraphrafe  upon  each 
verfe  in  its  order,  defiring  you  to  keep  in  mind  the 
charafler  of  the  perfons  for  whom  it  is  defigned,  that 
fo,  as  I  go  along,  you  may  fee  how  juft  and  natural 
this  addrefs  is  ;  and  how  well  fuited  to  the  circumftances 
of  thofe   againft  whom  it  is  levelled. 

The  apoftle  begins  thus — Let  every  foul  *    he  fuhjeSi 
unto  the  higher  powers  5  (1  for  there  is  no  power  §  hut  of 

+     2  Pet.  ii.   lo. 

*  E'very  Joul.  This  is  an  hehratfm,  which  fignifies  c-jcry  man  ;  fo 
that  the  apoftie  does  not  exempt  the  clergy:  fuch  as  were  endow- 
ed with  the  gift  of  prophefy,  or  any  other  miraculous  powers 
which  fubfifted  in  the  church  at  that  day.  And  by  his  ufing  the 
hel»-etv  idiom,  it  feems  that  he  had  ihtje-wijh  converts  principally 
in  his  eye. 

11  The  higher  poi.v£rs  :  more  literally,  the  overruling  poijuen  :  which 
term  extends  to  all  civil  rulers  in  common. 

§  By /•c^-tr,  the  apoftle  intends  not  \2i\v\e{i  Jirength  and  brutal  forces 
without  regulation  or  proper  diredtion  ;  but  juft  authority  ;  for  fo 
the  word  here  ufed  properly  fignifies.  There  may  he  poiver 
where  there  is  no  (rvthority.  No  man  has  any  authority  to  do 
what  is  wrong  and  injurious,  though  he  may  ha.ye poi^'er  to  do  it. 

God : 


Non-Refljlance  to  the  Higher  Po^jcers,     5 

Cod  :  the  powers  that  be  *  are  ordained  of  God  f  vcr.   i. 

q.  d.  "  Whereas  fome  profefTed  chrijlians  vainly  ima- 
gine, that  they  are  wholly  excufed  from  all  manner 
of  duty  and  fubjedion  to  civil  authority,  refufing  to 
honour  their  rulers,  and  to  pay  taxes  -,  which  opini- 
on is  not  only  unreafonablc  in  itfelf,  but  alfo  tends  to 
fix  a  lading  reproach  upon  the  chrijlian  name  and 
profeffion,  I  now,  as  an  apoftle  and  ambaflador  of 
Chrift,  exhort  every  one  of  you,  be  he  who  he  will, 
to  pay  all  dutiful  fubmiffion  to  thofe  who  are  vef- 
ted  with  any  civil  office.  For  there  is,  properly 
fpeaking,  no  authority  but  what  is  derived  from 
God,  as  it  is  only  by  his  permiflion  and  providence 
that  any  poflefs  it.  Yea,  I  may  add,  that  all  civil 
magiftrates,  as  fuch,  altho'  they  may  be  heathens,  are 
appointed  and  ordained  of  God.  For  it  is  certainly 
God's  will,  that  fo  ufeful  an  inftitution  as  that  of 
magiflracy,  Ihould  take  place  in  the  world,  for  the 
good  of  civil  fociety.'*     The  apoftle  proceeds — Who- 

foever,  therefore,  refifteth  the  -power,  refjjieth  the  ordinance 

*  The  poivers  that  be  :  thofe  perfons  who  are  in  fa£l  veiled  with 
authority  ;  thofe  who  are  in  poflcflion.  And  who  thofe  are,  the 
apoftle  leaves  chriftians  to  determine  for  themfclves  ;  but  who- 
ever they  are,  they  arc  to  be  obeyed. 

•f-  Ordained  (f  God :  as  it  is  not  without  God's  providence  and  per- 
mifiion,  that  any  are  clothed  with  authority  ;  and  as  it  is  agree- 
able to  the  pofuive  will  and  purpofe  of  God,  that  there  (hould 
ht  foine  perfons  vefted  with  authority  for  the  good  of  fociety  :  not 
that  any  rulers  have  their  commiflion  immediately  from  God 
the  fupreme  Lord  of  the  univerfe.  If  any  alVert  thnt  kings,  or 
any  other  rulers,  arc  ordained  of  God  in  the  latter  fenVe,  it  is  in- 
cumbent upon  them  to  fliow  the  commlllion  which  they  ipealc 
of,  under  the  broad  feal  of  heaven.  And  when  they  do  this, 
they  will,  no  doubr,    be  believed. 

Of 


6  Of  unlimited  Suhmljfion^  and 

of  God  ;  and  they  that  rejijl  Jhall  receive  to  themJePves 
damnation,  ver.  2.  q.  d.  "  Think  not,  therefore,  that 
"  ye  are  guiklefs  of  any  crime  or  fin  againfl:  God, 
"  when  ye  faflioudy  difobey  and  refift  the  civil  au- 
"  thority.  For  magiftracy  and  government  being,  as  I 
"  have  faid,  the  ordinance  attd  appointment  of  God, 
"  it  follows,  that  to  refift  magiftrates  in  the  execution  of 
"  of  their  offices,  is  really  to  refift  the  will  and  ordi- 
"  nance  of  God  himfelf  :  And  they  who  thus  refift. 
"  will  accordingly  be  puniftied  by  God  for  this  fin  in 
"  common  with  others.'*  The  apoftle  goes  on — For 
rulers  are  not  a  terror  to  good  works,  but  to  the  evil,  -f 
TVilt  thou  then,  not  be  afraid  of  the  power  ?  Do  that 
which  is  good,  and  thou  fhalt  have  praife  of  the 
fame.  For  he  is  the  minifler  of  God  to  thee  for  good' 
ver.  3d,  and  part  of  the  4th.  q.  d.  "  That  you  may 
*'  fee  the  truth  and  juftnefs  of  what  I  aflfert,  {viz.  that 
"  magiftracy  is  the  ordinance  of  God,  and  that  you 
"  fin  againft  him  in  oppofing  it,)  confider  that  even 
"  pagan  rulers,  are  not,  by  the  nature  and  defign  of 
"  their  office,  enemies  and  a  terror  to  the  good  and 
"  virtuous  adions  of  men,  but  only  to  the  injurious 
"  and  mifchievous  to  fociety.  Will  ye  not,  then,  re- 
"  verence  and  honor  magiftracy,  when  ye  fee  the  good 

+  For  rulers  ere  not  a  terror  to  good  'works ,  but  to  the  ei'i/.  It  can  • 
not  be  fuppofcd  that  the  apollle  defigns  here,  or  in  any  of  the 
fuccecding  verfes,  to  give  the  true  character  of  Nero,  or  any 
other  civil  powers  then  in  being,  as  if  they  were  in  fat^  fuch 
perfons  as  he  defcnbes,  a  terror  to  evil  works  only,  and  not 
to  the  good.  For  fuch  a  charadler  did  not  belong  to  them  ; 
and  the  apoftle  was  no  fycophant,  or  parafite  of  power,  what- 
ever foine  of  his  pretended  lucceflbrs  have  been.  He  only  tells 
what  rul-TS  would  be,  provided  they  aflcd  up  to  their  charader 
and  oflice. 

"  end 


JVon-Rejy}a?tce  to  the  Higher  Powers.     7 

*'  end  and  intention  of  it  ?  How  can  ye  be  fo  unreafona- 
*'  ble  ?  Only  mind  to  do  your  duty  as  members  of 
"  fociety  •,  and  this  will  gain  you  the  applaufe  and 
*'  favour  of  all  good  rulers.  For  while  you  do  thus, 
*'  they  are,  by  their  o||k,  as  minifters  of  God,  obli- 
"  ged  to  encourage  and  protedt  you  ;  it  is  for  this 
"  very  purpofe  that  they  are  clothed  with  power.'* 
The  apofile  fubjoins — But  if  thou  do  that  which  is  evil, 
be  afraid,  for  he  heareth  not  the  [word  in  vain.  For 
he  is  the  minifier  of  God,  a  revenger,  to  execute  wrath 
upon  him  that  doth  evil*  ver.  4.  latter  part.  q.  d.  "  But 
"  upon  the  other  hand,  if  ye  refufe  to  do  your  duty 
*'  as  members  of  fociety  ;  if  ye  refufe  to  bear  your 
"  part  in  the  fupport  of  government  ;  if  ye  are  dif- 
*'  orderly,  and  do  things  which  merit  civil  chaftifcment, 
**  then,  indeed,  ye   have  reafon  to   be  afraid.     For  it  is 

*  It  is  manifefl  that  when  the  apoHle  fpcaks  of  it,  as  the  ofiice  of 
civil  rulers,  to  encourage  what  \s  gooJ,  and  to  punifh  what  is  evil, 
he  fpeaks  only  of  c:^.it  gond  and  eiil.  They  are  to  confult  the 
good  of  fociety  as  fuch  ;  not  to  dictate  in  religious  concerns  ;  not 
to  make  laws  for  the  government  of  men's  confciences  ;  and  to 
inflidl  civil  penalties  for  religious  crimes.  It  is  fulFicient  to  over- 
throw the  doftrine  of  the  authority  of  the  civil  magiflrate,  in  af- 
fairs of  a  fpiritual  nature,  (fo  far  as  it  is  built  uporj  any  thing 
which  is  here  (aid  by  St.  Paul,  or  upon  any  thing  elfe  in  the 
new-teflament  )  only  to  obferve,  that  all  the  magiftrates  then  in 
the  world  were  hiathcn,  implacable  enemies  to  chriftianity  :  fo 
that  to  give  them  authority  in  religious  matters,  would  have 
been,  in  effeft,  to  give  them  authority  to  extirpate  the  chriftian 
religion,  and  to  eflablifh  the  idolatries  and  fuperllitions  of  pagan- 
ifm.  And  can  any  one  reafonably  fuppofe,  that  the  apollle 
had  any  intention  to  extend  the  authority  of  rulers,  beyond  con- 
cerns merely  civil  and  political,  to  the  overthrowing  of  that  reli- 
gion which  he  himfelf  was  fo  zealous  in  propagating  !  But  it 
is  natural  for  thofe  whofe  religion  cannot  be  fupported  upon 
the  footing  of  reafon  and  argument,  to  have  recourfe  to  power 
and  force,  which  will  ferve  a  bad  cauTe  as  well  as  a  good  one; 
and    iniJeed  much   better. 

*'  not 


8  Of  unlimited  SuhmiJJion^   and 

"  not  in  vain  that  rulers  are  vefted  with  the  power  of 
"  infliding  punifhment.  They  are,  by  their  office> 
"  not  only  the  minifters  of  God  for  good  to  thofe  that 
"  do  well  ;  but  alfo  his  minifters  to  revenge,  to  dif- 
"  countenance  and  punifh  thc^Pthat  are  unruly,  and  in- 
"  jurious  to  their  neighbours.'*  The  apoftle  proceeds 
— Wherefore  ye  mujl  needs  be  fubje5l  not  only  for  wrath* 
but  alfo  for  confcience  fake,  ver.  5.  q.  d.  "  Since  there- 
"  fore,  magiftracy  is  the  ordinance  of  God  ;  and  fince 
"  rulers  are,  by  their  office,  benefadors  to  fociety,  by 
"  difcouraging  what  is  bad,  and  encouraging  what  is 
"  good,  and  fo  preferving  peace  and  order  amongft 
"  men  ;  it  is  evident  that  ye  ought  to  pay  a  willing 
"  fubjedlion  to  them  ;  not  to  obey  merely  for  fear  of 
*'  expofing  yourfelves  to  their  wrath  and  difpleafure, 
"  but  alfo  in  point  of  reafon,  duty  and  confcience  : 
"  Ye  are  under  an  indifpenfable  obligation,  as  chriflians, 
"  to  honour  their  office,  and  to  fubmit  to  them  in 
"  the  execution  of  it."  The  apoftle  goes  on — For^ 
for  this  caufe  pay  you  tribute  alfo  :  for  they  are  God's 
minifters,  attending  continually  upon  this  very  thing,  ver.  6. 
q.  d.  "  And  here  is  a  plain  reafon  alfo  why  ye  fhould 
"  pay  tribute  to  them  ;  for  they  are  God's  minifters, 
"  exalted  above  the  common  level  of  mankind,  not 
*'  that  they  may  indulge  themfelves  in  foftnefs  and 
*'  luxury,  and  be  entitled  to  the  fervile  homage  of  their 
"  fellow- men  J  but  that  they  may  execute  an  office  no 
"  lefs  laborious  than  honourable  -,  and  attend  continually 
*'  upon  the  public   welfare.     This  being   their  bufinefs 

and 


Non-Refijlance  to  the  Higher  Powers.     9 

"  and  duty,  it  is  but  reafonable,  that  they  fhould  be  re- 
"  quitcd  for  their  care  and  diligence  in  performing  it  ; 
*'  and  enabled,  by  taxes  levied  upon  the  fubjed,  effedu- 
"  ally  to  profecute  the  great  end  of  their  inftitution, 
"  the  good  of  fociety.'*  The  apoftle  fums  all  up  in 
the  following  words  ^^  Render  therefore  to  all  their 
dues  :  tribute,  *  to  whom  tribute  is  due  ;  cujlom,  *  to 
whom  cuflom  \  fear^  to  whom  fear  -,  honour^  to  whom 
honour,  ver.  7.  q.  d.  "  Let  it  not,  therefore,  be  faid 
"  of  any  of  you  hereafter,  that  you  contemn  govcrn- 
"  menr,  to  the  reproach  of  yourfclves,  and  of  the 
*'  chrijlian  religion.  Neither  your  being  jews  by  na- 
"  tion,  nor  your  becoming  the  fubjctfls  of  Chrift's  king- 
"  dom,  gives  you  any  difpcnfation  for  making  diftur- 
"  bances  in  the  government  under  which  you  live. 
"  Approve  yourfelves,  therefore,  as  peaceable  and  du- 
*'  tiful  fubjefls.  Be  ready  to  pay  to  your  rulers  all 
"  that  they  may,  in  refpeft  of  their  office,  juftly  de- 
*'  mand  of  you.  Render  tribute  and  cuftom  to  thofe 
*'  of  your  governors  to  whom  tribute  and  cuftom  be- 
"  long  :  And  chearfully  honor  and  reverence  all  who 
"  are  veiled  with  civil  authority,  according  to  their 
"  defcrts." 

The   apoftle's  do6lrIne,  in  the  paflage  thOs  explained, 
concerning   the  office   of  civil  rulers,  and  the    duty  of 

**  Gtotius  obfcrves  that  the  greek  words  here  ufed,  anfwer  to  the 
tributum  and  'veiiigal  of  the  Romans  ;  the  former  was  the  money 
paid  for  the  foil  and  poll  ;  the  latter,  the  duties  laid  upon  fome 
iorts  of  merchandize.  And  what  the  apoftle  here  fays,  dcferves 
to  be  ferioufly  confidered  by  all  chriftians  concerned  in  that  com- 
mon pradice   of  carrying  on  an  illicit  trade,  and  running  of  eooJs. 

C  fubjefls. 


lo         Of  unlimited   Suhmijfion^  and 

fubjeds,   may  be  fummed  up  in  the    following   obfer- 
vations  ;  *    viz. 

That  the  end  of  magiftracy  is  the  good  of  civil 
fociety,   as  fuch  : 

That  civil  rulers,  as  fuch^t  the  ordinance  and  mi- 
nifters  of  God  j  it  being  by  his  permilTion  and  provi- 
dence that  any  bear  rule  ;  and  agreeable  to  his  will, 
that  there  fhould  be  fame  perfons  vefted  with  authority 
in  fociety,   for  the  well-being  of  it   : 

That  which  is  here  faid  concerning  civil  rulers,  ex- 
tends to  all  of  them  in  common  :  it  relates  indifferently 
to  monarchical,  republican  and  ariftocratical  government  ; 
and  to  all  other  forms  which  truly  anfwer  the  fole  end  of 
government,  the  happinefs  of  fociety  •,  and  to  all  the 
different  degrees  of  authority  in  any  particular  (late  j 
to  inferior  officers  no  lefs  than  to  the  fupreme  : 

That  difobedience  to  civil  rulers  in  the  due  exer- 
cife  of  their  authority,  is  not  merely  a  po/;/;V^/j^«,  but 
an  heinous  offence  againjl  God  and  religion  : 

That  the  true  ground  and  reafon  t  of  0"r  obliga- 
tion to  be  fubjcfl  to  the  higher  powers^  is  the  ufefulnefs 

of 

*  The  feveral  obfervations  here  only  mentioned,  were  handled  at 
large  in   two  preceeding  difcourfes  upon  this   fubjed. 

•f  Some  fuppofe  ihe  apollle  in  this  paflage  inforces  the  duty  of 
fubmiflion,  with  /it'o  arguments  quite  dillinft  from  each  other  ; 
one  taken  from  this  confideration,  that  rulers  are  the  ordinance, 
and  the  minilters  of  God,  (ver.  i.  2.  and  4.)  and  the  other, 
from  the  benefits  that  accrue  to  fociety,  from  civil  government, 
(ver.  3,  4,  and  6.)  And  indeed  thefe  may  be  diftindl  motives 
and  arguments  for  fubmiflion,  as  they  may  be  feparately  viewed 

and 


Non-Reftjlance  to  the  Higher  Powers.   1 1 

oFmagiftracy  (when  properly  exercifed)  to  human  fociety, 
and   its  fubferviency  to  the  general  welfare  : 

That  obedience  to  civil  rulers  is  here  equally  requi- 
red under  all  forms  of  government,  which  anfwer  the 
fole  end  of  all  governnient,  the  good  of  fociety  ;  and 
to  every  degree  of  authority  in  any  ftate,  whether 
fupremc  or   fubordinate  : 

(Trom  whence  it   follows, 

That  if  unlimited  obedience  and  non-refiftance,  be 
here  required  as  a  duty  under  any  one  form  of  govern- 
ment, it  is  alfo  required  as  a  duty  under  all  other  forms  \ 
and  as  a  duty  to  fubordinate  rulers  as  well  as  to  the 
fupreme.) 

And  laftly,  that  thofe  civil  rulers  to  whom  the 
apoftle  injoins  fubjeflion,  are  the  perfons  tn  pojfejfion ; 

and  contemplated.  But  when  we  confider  that  rulers  are  not 
the  ordinance  and  the  minillers  of  God,  but  only  fo  far  forth  as 
they  perform  God's  will,  by  ading  up  to  their  office  and  cha- 
radler,  and  fo  by  being  benefaftors  to  fociety,  this  makes  thefe 
arguments  coincide,  and  run  up  into  ofie  at  laft  :  At  lead  fo 
far,  that  the  former  of  them  cannot  hold  good  for  fub- 
milhon,  where  the  latter  fails.  Put  the  fuppofition,  that  any  man 
bearing  the  title  of  a  magiftrate,  fliould  exercife  his  power  in 
fuch  a  manner  as  to  have  no  claim  to  obedience  by  virtue  of 
that  argument  which  is  founded  upon  the  ufefulnefs  of  magi- 
ftracy  ;  and  you  equally  take  ofF  the  force  of  the  other  argu- 
ment alfo,  which  is  founded  upon  his  being  the  ordinance  and 
the  miniller  of  God.  For  he  is  no  longer  God's  ordinance  and 
minifter,  than  he  ads  up  to  his  office  and  charafter,  by  exer- 
cifing  his  power  for  the  good  of  fociety — This  is,  in  brief, 
the  reafon  why  it  is  faid  above,  in  the  Jtngular  number,  that 
the  true  ground  and  reafon,  &CC.  The  ufe  and  propriety  of  this 
remark  may  poffibly  be  more  apparent  in  the  progrefs  of  the 
argument   concerning  rcfillance. 

the 


J  2  Of  imllmited  Siihtmjflon^  and 

the  powers  that  he  \  thofe  who  are  a^ually   vefted   wiih 
authority,  -f; 

There    is  one   very    important  and  interefting   point 
which  remains  to  be  inquired  into  ;  namely,  the  extent  of 
that  fubjedlion  to  the  higher. powers,  which  is  here  enjoined 
as   a  duty  upon   all  chriftians.     Some   have  thought   it 
warrantable  and  glorious,  to  difobey  the   civil  powers  in 
certain  circumftances  ;  and,  in  cafes  of  very  great  and 
general  oppreflion,   when   humble  remonftrances  fail   of 
having  any  effed    ;    and  when  the  publick  welfare  can- 
not be  otherwife  provided  for  and    fecured,  to  rife  una- 
nimoudy   even  againft  the  fovereign  himfelf,  in  order  to 
redrefs   their  grievances  ;  to  vindicate  their  natural  and 
legal  rights  :     to  break  the   yoke  of  tyranny,   and    free 
thcmfelves   and  pofterity   from  inglorious    fervitude  and 
ruin.     It   is  upon  this  principle  that  many  royal  oppref- 
fors  have  been  driven   from    their  thrones   into    baniflh- 
ment  ;    and  many   flain  by  the  -hands  of  their  fubjeds. 

•\  This  moR  be  underdood  with  this  proi-ifo,  that  they  do  not 
grofly  ahuje  &.c\v  power  and  triiR,  but  exerc.Te  it  for  the  good 
of  thofe  th.at  are  governed.  Who  thefe  perfons  were,  whe- 
ther Nero,  SiC.  or  not,  the  apofile  does  not  uy  ;  but  leaves  it 
to  be  determined  by  thofe  to  whom  he  wriies.  God  does  not 
interpofe,  in  a  miraculous  way,  to  point  out  the  perfons  who 
fhall  bear  rule,  and  to  whom  fjbjedion  is  due.  And  as  to  the 
unalienable,  indefeafible  right  of  fi imooeniutrey  the  fcriptures 
are  intirely  nlent  :  or  ra'her  plainly  contradidl  it  :  •S'^^/ being  the 
iirfl;  king  among  the  Ifrac/iies  ;  and  appointed  to  the  royal  dig- 
rity,  during  his  own  father's  life  time  :  and  he  \vas  fuccceded, 
or  rather  fuperfeded,  by  Dat'id,  the  laft  bom  among  jnany  bre- 
thren— Now  if  God  has  cot  invariably  determined  this  matter, 
it  muft,  of  courle,  be  determined  by  m(n.  And  if  it  be  deter- 
mined by  men,  it  mull  be  determined  either  in  the  way  of 
force,   or    of  compaSl.      And  which  of  thefe  is  the  mofl  equitable, 

can  be  no  qu^Ition* 

It: 


Non-Refijlance  to  the  Higher  Poiscers.  1 3 

It  was  upon  this  principle  that  Tarquin  was  expelled  from 
Rome  ;  and  Julius   Cefar,   the  conqueror   of  the   world, 
and  the  tyrant  of  his  country,  cut  off  in  the  fenate  houfe. 
It  was  upon  this  principle,  that  king  Charles  I,    was  be- 
headed before  his   own  banqueting  houfe.     It   was  upon 
this  principle,  that  king  James  II.  was  made  to   fly  that 
country  which  he  aim'd  at  enflaving  :    And   upon    this 
principle  was  that  revolution  brought  about,  which    has 
been  fo  fruitful   of  happy  confequences  to  Great-Britai?i. 
But,  in  oppofition  to  this  principle,  it  has  often  been  af- 
ferted,  that  the  fcripture  in  general  fand  the  paflage  un- 
der confideration    in    particular)    makes  all  refinance  to 
princes  a  crime,   in  any  cafe  whatever — If  they  turn  ty- 
rants,   and  become   the    common   opprefTors  of  thofe, 
whofc  welfare  they  ought  to  regard  with  a  paternal   af- 
feflion,  we  mufb   not   pretend  to  ri^ht  ourfelve?,  unlefs  it 
be  by  prayers  and   tears  and  humble  intreaties  :    And  if 
thefe  methods  fail   of  procuring  redrefs,  we    muft  not 
have  recourfe  to  any  other,  but  all  fuffer  ourfelves  to  be 
robbed   and    butchered  at   the   pleafure   of  the   Lord's 
anointed  -,  left  we   fliould  incur  the  fin  of  rebellion,  and 
the  punifliment  of  damnation.     For  he   has   God's  au- 
thority and   commiflion  to  bear  him  out  in  the   worfl 
of  crimes,  fo    far    that   he  may   not   be    withdood   or 
controuled.     Now  whether  v;e  are  obliged  to  yield  fuch 
an  abfolute  fubmifTion  to   our   prince  ;  or  whether   dilb- 
bedience  and  reliftance  may   not  be  juftifiable   in   feme 
cafes,  notwithftanding  any  thing  in    the   paffjge  before 
us,  is  an  inquiry  in  which-  we  are  all  concerned  -,  and  this 
is  the  inquiry  which  is  the.  main  defign   of  the  prefent 

difcDutfe. 

^  Nov/ 


1 4  Of  U7tlimtted  SubmiJfto7Jy  and 

Now  there  does  not  feem  to  be  any  neceflity  of  fup- 
pofing,  that  an  abfolute,  unlimited  obedience,  whether 
aftive  or  paffive,  is  here  injoined,  merely  for  this  reafon, 
that  the  precept  is  delivered  in  abfolute  terms,  without 
any  exception  or  limitation  exprefly  mentioned.  "We  are 
enjoined,  (ver.  i.)  to  be  fubjeSl  to  the  higher  powers  : 
and  ('ver.  5.)  to  be  fubje^  for  confcience  fake.  And 
becaufe  thefe  expreffions  are  abfolute  and  unlimited.  Cor 
more  properly,  general)  fome  have  inferred,  that  the 
fubjedion  required  in  them,  muft  be  abfolute  and  unli- 
mited alfo  :  At  lead  fo  far  forth  as  to  make  paflive 
obedience  and  non  refiftance,  a  duty  in  all  cafes  what- 
ever, if  not  aftive  obedience  likewife.  Though,  by  the 
way,  there  is  here  no  diftinflion  made  betwixt  a6live 
and  pafTive  obedience  ;  and  if  either  of  them  be  requi- 
red in  an  unlimited  fenfe,  the  other  muft  be  required  in 
the  fame  fenfe  alfo,  by  virtue  of  the  prefent  argument ; 
becaufe  the  exprefllons  are  equally  abfolute  with  refpefb 
to  both.  But  that  unlimited  obedience  of  any  fort, 
cannot  be  argued  merely  from  the  indefinite  exprefllons 
in  which  obedience  is  enjoined,  appears  from  hence,  that 
expreffions  of  the  fame  nature,  frequently  occur  in  fcrip- 
ture,  upon  which  it  is  confefTed  on  all  hands,  that  no 
fuch  abfolute  and  unlimited  fenfe  ought  to  be  put.  For 
example.  Love  not  the  world  •,  neither  the  things  that  are 
in  the  world  ;  f  Lay  not  up  for  yourfelves  treafures  upon 
earth  ;  *  Take  therefore  no  thought  for  the  morrow  ;  \\  are 
precepts  exprefled  in  at  leaft  equally  abfolute  and  unli- 
mited terms :  but  it  is  generally  allowed  that  they  are 
to  be  underftood   with  certain   reftriflions  and  iimitati- 


t   I  John  ii.  15.         *  Matt.  vi.    19.         ||    Matt.  vi.  34. 


ons ; 


Non-Refejlance  to  the  Higher  Powers,    1 5 

ons  i  fome  degree  of  love  to  the  world,  and  the  things 
of  it,  being  allowable.     Nor,  indeed,  do  the  Right  Re- 
verend Fathers  in  God,   and   other   dignified  clergymen  of 
the  eftablifhed   church,  feem  to  be  altogether  averfe  to 
admitting  of  reftridions   in   the   latter  cafe,  how  warm 
foever    any   of  them  may  be  againft   reftriflions,    and 
limitations,  in  the  cafe   of  fubmiffion  to  authority,  whe- 
ther civil  or  ecclefiaftical.     It  is  worth    remarking  alfo, 
that  patience  and  fubmiffion  under  private   injuries,  are 
injoincd  in    much  more   peremptory  and  abfolute  terms, 
than  any  that  are  ufed  with  regard  to  fubmiffion  to  the 
injuftice  and  oppreffion  of  civil  rulers.     Thus,  /  fay  unto 
you,  that  ye  refijl  not  evil ;  but  whofoever  JJoall  fmite  thee 
on  the  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  alfo.     And  if  any 
man  will  fue  thee  at  the  law,  and  take  away  thy  coat,  let 
him  have  thy  cloke  alfo.     And  whofoever  fioall  compel  thee 
to  go   a  mile  with  him,  go  with  him  twain,  f    Any  man 
may  be   defied  to  produce    fuch  flrong   expreffions  in 
favor  of  a  paffive  and  tame  fubmiffion  to  unjuft,   tyran- 
nical rulers,  as   are  here   ufed   to   inforce  fubmiffion   to 
private  injuries.     But  how  few  are  there  that  underftand 
thofe  expreffiions  literally    ?    And  the  reafon  why   they 
do   nor,    is  becaufe  f  with   fubmiffion    to  the  quakers  ) 
common  fenfe  fhows  that  they  were   not   intended   to 
be  fo  underftood. 

But  to  inflance  in  fome  fcripture- precepts,  which  are 
more  diredly  to  the  point  in  hand.  —  Children  are 
commanded  to  obey  their  parents,  and  fervants,  their 
mailers,  in  as  abfolute  and  unlimited  terms  as  fubjeds 

•j-  Mat.  V.  39,40,41. 

are 


1 6        Of  unlimited  Suhnijfion^    and 

are  here  commanded  to  obey  their  civil  rulers.  Thus 
this  fame  apoflle  —  Children  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord-, 
for  this  is  right.  Honour  thy  father  and  mother,  —  which 
is  the  firjl  commandment  with  promife.  —  Servants,  he  obe- 
dient to  them  that  are  your  wajlers  according  to  the  fle/hy 
with  fear  afid  trembling,  with  finglenefs  of  your  heart  as 
unto  Chriji.*  Thus  alfo  wives  are  commanded  to  be 
obedient  to  their  hufbands  —  IVives,  fubmit  your  felves 
unto  your  own  hufbands,  as  unto  the  Lord.  For  the  hufhand 
is  head  of  the  wife,  even  as  CHRIST  IS  THE 
HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH  —Therefore,  as  the 
church  is  fubjeB  unto  Chriji,  fo  let  the  wives  be  to 
their  own  hufbands  IN  EVERY  THING,  f  In  all 
thefe  cafes,  fubmiffion  is  required  in  terms  (  at  leaft  ) 
as  abfolute  and  univerfal,  as  are  ever  ufed  with  refpe(5l 
to  rulers  and  fubjetfls.  But  who  fuppofes  that  the  apo- 
flle ever  intended  to  teach,  that  children,  fervants  and 
wives,  fliould,  in  all  cafes  whatever,  obey  their  pa- 
rents, mafters  and  hufbands  refpe(5lively,  never  making 
any  oppofition  to  their  will,  even  although  they  fhould 
require  them  to  break  the  commandments  of  God, 
or  fhould  caufelefly  make  an  attempt  upon  their  lives  ? 
No  one  puts  fuch  a  fenfe  upon  thefe  exprefTions,  how- 
ever abfolute  and  unlimited.  Why  then  fhould  it  be 
fuppofed,  that  the  apoftle  defigned  to  teach  univerfal 
obedience,  whether  aflive  or  pafllve,  to  the  higher  pow- 
ers, merely  becaufe  his  precepts  are  delivered  in  abfolute 
and  unlimited  terms  ?  And  if  this  be  a  good  argument 
in  one  cafe,   why  is  it  not  in  others  alfo  ?  If  it   be  faid 

*    Eph.    Vi    I,  &:c.  t  Eph.  V.    22,  23,  24. 

that 


Non-Refijlance  to  the  Higher  Powers,  1 7 

that  refiftance  and  difobedience  to  the  higher  powers,  is 
here  faid  pofitively  to  be  arin,foalfo  is  the  difobedience 
of  children  to  parents  ;  fervants,  to  mafters  •,  and  wives, 
to  hufbands,  in  other  places  of  fcripture.  But  the  quef- 
tion  ftill  remains,  whether  in  all  thefe  cafes  there  be 
not  fome  exceptions  ?  In  the  three  latter,  it  is  allowed 
there  are.  And  from  hence  it  follows,  that  barely  the 
ufc  of  abfolutc  expreflions,  is  no  proof,  that  obedience 
to  civil  rulers,  is,  in  all  cafes,  a  duty  ;  or  refiftance,  in 
all  cafes  a  fin.  I  fhould  not  have  thought  it  worth 
while  to  take  any  notice  at  all  of  this  argument, 
had  it  not  been  much  infifted  upon  by  fome  of  the 
advocates  for  paflive  obedience  and  non- refiftance:  For 
it  is,  in  itfelf,  perfedtly  trifling  •,  and  rendered  confidera- 
ble,  only  by  the  ftrefs  that  has  been  laid  upon  it  for 
want  of  better. 

There  is,  indeed,  one  paffage  in  the  new-teftament, 
where  it  may  feem,  at  firft  view,  that  an  unlimited 
fubmiftion  to  civil  rulers,  is  injoined.—  Submit  your 
felves  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord* s  fake. f^* 
To  every  ordinance  of  man. — However,  this  expreftion  is 
no  ftronger  than  that  before  taken  notice  of,  with  relation 
to  the  duty  of  wives  —  So  let  the  wives  be  fubjeEl  to 
their  own  hufbands  —  IN  EVERY  THING.  But  the 
true  foiution  of  this  difficulty  (  if  it  be  one)  is  this :  by 
every  ordinance  of  man.,  *  is  not  meant  every  command 
of  the  civil   magiftrate   without  exception   5    but  every 

\   1  Pet.    2.  13. 

*  Literally,  en;cry  human  inftitution,  or  appcinlmtat.  By  which 
manner  of  cxpreflion  the  apollle  plainly  intima^^,  that  rulers  de- 
rive their  authority  immediately,  not  from  Cody  but  from  nun. 

D  order 


1 8         Of  unlwiited  Submijfw?^  and 

order  of  maglffrates  appointed  by  man  •,  —  whether  fupcrlor 
or  inferior  :  For  fo  the  apoftle  explains  himfelf  in  the 
very  next  words  —  Whether  it  he  to  the  king  as  fitpreme^ 
or  to  governors^  as  unto  them  that  are  fent,  &c.  But 
although  the  apoftle  had  not  ilibjoined  any  fuch  expla- 
nation, the  reafon  of  the  thing  itfelf  would  have  obli- 
ged us  to  limit  the  exprefTion  [^every  ordinance  of  man  ] 
to  fuch  human  ordinances  and  commands,  as  are  not  in- 
confiftent  with  the  ordinances  and  commands  of  God, 
the  fupreme  lawgiver  j  or  with  any  other  higher,  and 
antecedent,  obligations. 

It  is  to  be  obferved,  in  the  next  place,  that  as  the 
duty  of  univerfal  obedience  and  non-refiftance  to  the 
higher  powers^  cannot  be  argued  from  the  abfolute  unli- 
mited expreflions  v^'hich  the  apoftle  here  ufes  ;  fo  neither 
can  it  be  argued  from  the  fcope  and  drift  of  his  rca- 
foning,  confidered  with,  relation  to  the  perfons  he  was 
here  oppofing.  As  was  obferved  above,  there  were 
feme  proftfied  chrijliansm  the  apoftolic  age,  who  dif- 
claimed  all  magiftracy  and  civil  authority  in  general, 
defpifwg  government  y  wd  fpeaking  evil  of  dignities-,  fomc 
under  a  notion  that  jews  ought  not  to  be  under  the 
jurifdidlion  of  gentile  rulers  •,  and  others,  that  they  were 
lit /r«-^  from  the  temporal  powers,  by  Chrift.  Now  it 
is  With  perfons  of  this  licentious  opinion  and  charader, 
that  the  apoftle  is  concerned.  And  all  that  was  diredly 
to  his  point,  was  to  fliow,  that  they  were  bound  to  fub- 
mit  to  magiftracy  /;?  general.  This  is  a  circumftance 
very   material  to  be  taken  notice  of,  in  order  to  afcertain 

the 


Non-RefiJla?Ke  to  the  Higher  Powe7's.  1 9 


the  fenfe  of  the  apoftle.  For  this  being  confidered,  1 
is  lufficient  to  account  for  all  that  he  fays  concerning  the 
duty  of  fubjedion,  and  the  fin  of  refidance,  to  the 
higher  powers^  without  having  recourfe  to  the  doflrine 
of  unlimited  fubmifllon  and  paflive  obedience,  in  all 
cafes  whatever.  Were  it  known  that  thofe  in  oppofi- 
tion  to  whom,  the  apoftle  wrote,  allowed  of  civil  au- 
thority in  general,  and  only  aflferted  that  there  were 
fome  cafes  in  which  obedience  and  non-refiftance,  were 
not  a  duty  •,  there  would,  then,  indeed,  be  reafon  for 
interpreting  this  paflage  as  containing  the  doflrine  of 
unlimited  obedience,  and  non-refiftance,  as  it  muft,  in 
this  cafe,  be  fuppofed  to  have  been  levelled  againfl  fuch 
as  denied  that  doflrine.  But  fince  it  is  certain  that  there 
were  perfons  who  vainly  imagined,  that  civil  government 
in  general,  was  not  to  be  regarded  by  them,  it  is  moft 
reafonable  to  fuppofe,  that  the  apoftle  defigned  his  dif- 
courfe  only  againft  them.  And  agreeably  to  this  fuppo- 
fition,  we  find  that  he  argues  the  ufefulnefs  of  civil  ma- 
giftracy  in  general  •,  its  agreeablenefs  to  the  will  and 
purpofe  of  God,  who  is  over  all  •,  and  fo  deduces  from 
hence,  the  obligation  of  fubmiflion  to  it.  But  it  will 
not  follow,  that  becaufe  civil  government,  is,  in  general, 
a  good  inftitution,  and  neceflary  to  the  peace  and  happi- 
nefs  of  human  focicty,  therefore  there  are  no  fuppofeable 
cafes  in  which  refiftance  to  it  can  be  innocent.  So  that 
the  duty  of  unlimited  obedience,  whether  aflive  or  paf- 
five,  can  be  argued,  neither  from  the  manner  of  expref- 
fion  here  ufed,  nor  from  the  general  fcope  and  defign 
of  the  paflage. 

And 


:<] 


20         Of  iinlwiited  Stcbmijfwn^  and 

And  if  we  attend  to  the  nature  of  the  argument 
with  which  the  apoftle  here  inforces  the  duty  of  fubmif- 
fion  to  the  higher  powers,  we  fhall  find  it  to  be  fuch  an 
one  as  concludes  not  in  favor  of  fubmiffion  to  all  who 
bear  the  title  of  rulers,  in  common  ;  but  only,  to  thofe 
who  equally  perform  the  duty  of  rulers,  by  exercifing  a 
reafonable  and  juft  authority,  for  the  good  of  human 
fociety.  This  is  a  point  which  it  will  be  proper  to  en- 
large upon  •,  becaufe  the  queftion  before  us  turns  very 
much  upon  the  truth  or  falfliood  of  this  pofition.  It 
is  obvious,  then,  in  general,  that  the  civil  rulers  whom 
the  apoftle  here  fpeaks  of,  and  obedience  to  whom  he 
prefTes  upon  chriftians  as  a  duty,  are  good  rulers,  f  fuch 
as  are,  in  the  exercife  of  their  office  and  power,  bene- 
faftors  to  fociety.  Such  they  are  defcribcd  to  be,  thro'- 
out  this  pafTage.  Thus  it  is  faid,  that  they  are  not  a 
terror  to  good  works,  but  to  the  evil  -,  that  they  are  God^s 
ministers  for  good ;  revengers  to  execute  wrath  upon  bin:- 
that  doth  evil ;  and  that  they  attend  continually  upon  this 
very  thing.  St.  Peter  gives  the  fame  account  of  rulers  : 
They  are  for  a  praife  to  them  that  do  well,  and  the  pu- 
nifhment  of  evil  doers.  *  It  is  manifeft  that  this  cha- 
rafter  and  defcription  of  rulers,  agrees  only  to  fuch  as  are 
rulers  in  fa6V,  as  well  as  in  name  :  to  fuch  as  govern 
well,  and  ad  agreeably  to  their  office.  And  the  apo- 
flle's  argument   for   fubmiffion  to  rulers,  is  wholly  built 

f  By  good  rulers,  arc  not  intended  fuch  as  are  good  in  a  moral  or 
religicus,  but  only  in  a  pnliticaJ,  fenfe  ;  thole  who  perform  their 
duty  fo  far  as  their  office  extends  ;  and  lo  far  as  civil  fociety,  as 
fuch,  is  concerned  in    their  adtion?. 

*  See  the  marginal  note,  page  0.    See  alfo  the  marginal  nofe,  p.  7. 

and 


Non-^RefiJlcince  to  the  Higher  Powers.  2  i 

and  grounded  upon  a  prefumption  that  they  do  in  fadt 
anfwer  this  chara(5ler  •,  and  is  of  no  force  at  all  upon 
fuppofition  of  the  contrary.  If  rulers  are  a  terror  to 
good  works,  and  not  to  the  evil ;  if  they  are  not  minifters 
for  good  to  fociety,  but  for  evil  and  diftrefs,  by  violence 
and  opprefTion  -,  if  they  execute  wrath  upon  fober,  peace- 
able perfons,  who  do  their  duty  as  members  of  fociety  ; 
and  fuffer  rich  and  honourable  knaves  to  efcape  wit'i 
impunity  ;  if,  inftead  of  attending  continually  upon  the 
•good  work  of  advancing  the  publick  welfare,  they  attend 
only  upon  the  gratification  of  their  own  lull:  and  pride 
and  ambition,  to  the  dellruflion  of  the  public  welfare  ; 
if  this  be  the  cafe,  it  is  plain  that  the  apoftle's  argument 
for  fubmifTion  does  not  reach  them  ;  they  are  not  the 
fame,  but  different  perfons  from  thofe  whom  he  cha- 
rafterizes  ;  and  who  mufl:  be  obeyed  according  to  his 
reafoning. — Let  me  illuflrate  the  apoftle's  argument,  by 
the  following  fimilitude  :  (it  is  no  matter  how  far  it  is 
from  any  thing  which  has,  in  fatfV,  happened  in  the 
world.)  Suppofe,  then,  it  was  allowed,  in  general,  that 
the  clergy  were  an  ufeful  order  of  men  •,  that  they  ought 
to  be  e^eemed  very  highly  in  love  for  their  works  fake  ;  X 
and  to  be  decently  fupported  by  thofe  whom  they 
ferve,  the  labourer  being  worthy  of  his  reivard.  *  Sup- 
pofe farther,  that  a  number  o(  Revererjd  and  Right  Re- 
verend Drones,  who  worked  not  -,  who  preached,  perhaps, 
but  once  a  year,  and  then,  not  the  gofpel  of  Jefus  Chrift  ; 
but  the  divine  right  of  tythes  ; —  the  dignity  of  their 
ojfice  as  awbajjadors  of  Chrijl,  the  equity  of  fine  cures,  anci 

t  I  Thcf.   V.  13.         *   I  Tim.  v.  i8. 

<3 


2  2         Of  wiUmtted  Siihmijfton^  and 

a  plurality  of  benefices  ; — the  excellency  of  the  devotions 
in  that  prayer  book,  which  fome  of  them  hired  chap- 
lains to  ufe  for  them  ; — or  fome  favourite  point  of  f^«rc/&- 
tyranny,  and  antichrijlian  ufurpation  •,  fuppofe  fuch  men 
as  thefe,  fpending  their  lives  in  effeminacy,  luxury  and 
idlenefs ;  Cor  when  they  were  not  idle,  doing  that  which 
is  worfe  than  idlenefs  -,  fuppofe  fuch  menj  fhould,  merely 
by  the  merit  of  ordination  and  confecration,  and  a  pecu- 
liar,  odd  habit,  claim  great  refpeft  and  reverence  from 
thofe  whom  they  civilly  called  the  beafls  of  the  laiety  \  \\ 
and  demand  thoufands  per  annum,  for  that  good  fervice 
which  they  —  never  performed -,  and  for  which,  if  they 
had  performed  it,  this  would  be  much  more  than  a  quan- 
tum meruit  :  fuppofe  this  fhould  be  the  cafe,  fit  is  only 
by  way  o\  fimile,  and  furely  it  will  give  no  offencej 
would  not  every  body  be  aftoniflied  at  fuch  infolence, 
injuflice  and  impiety  ?  And  ought  not  fuch  men  to 
be  told  plainly,  that  they  could  not  reafonably  expedl 
the  efteem  and  reward,  due  to  the  minifters  of  the  gofpel, 
unlefs  they  did  the  duties  of  their  office  ?  Should  they 
not  be  told,  that  their  title  and  habit  claimed  no  regard, 
reverence  or  pay,  feparate  from  the  care  and  work  and 
various  duties  of  their  function  ?  And  that  while  they 
negleifled  the  latter,  the  former  ferved  only  to  render 
them  the  more  ridiculous  and  contemptible  ? — The  appli- 
cation of  this  fmilitude  to  the  cafe  in  hand,  is  very  eafy, 
— If  thofe  who  bear  the  title  of  civil  rulers,  do  not 
perform  the  duty  of  civil  rulers,  but  a6l  dircdlly  counter 
to  the   fole  end   and  defign  of   their  office   -,    if  they 

Ij  Mr.  Vf.le. 

injure 


No?i-ReftJlance  to  the  Higher  Po'ucers,  2  3 

injure  and  opprefs  their  Tubjecfls,  inftead  of  defending 
their  rights  and  doing  them  good  •,  they  have  not  the 
lead  pretence  to  be  honored,  obeyed  and  rewarded,  ac- 
cording to  the  apoftle's  argument.  For  his  reafoning,  in 
order  to  fliow  the  duty  of  fubjedlion  to  the  higher 
powers^  is,  as  was  before  obferved,  built  wholly  upon 
the  fuppofition,  that  they  do,  in  fa5i^  perform  the 
duty   of  rulers. 

If  it  be  faid,  that  the  apoftle  here  ufes  another  ar- 
gument for  fubmilTion  to  the  higher  powers,  befides  that 
which  is  taken  from  the  ufefulnefs  of  their  oiFice  to  civil 
fociety,  when  properly  difcharged  and  executed  ■,  namely, 
that  i\\tu power  is  from  God;  that  they  ^re  ordained  cf^ 
God  ;    and  that  they  areGod*s  miniffers  :  And  if  it  be 
faid,  that  this  argument  for  fubmiffion  to  them  will  hold 
good,  although  they  do  not  exercifc   their  power  for  the 
beneiif,    but    for  the   ruin,  and  de{lru(5lion  of  human.' 
fociety  ;  this  objedlion   was   obviated,  in  part,  before,  f 
Rulers  have    no   authority  from  God   to   do    mifchief. 
They  are   not  God's  ordinance,    or  God's   i7iinijlers,    in 
any  other  fenfe  than  as  it  is  by  his  permifTion  and  pro- 
vidence, that   they  are   exalted  to  bear  rule    •,    and  as 
magiflracy  duly  excrcifed,  and  authority  rightly  applied, 
m  the  enacting  and  executing  good   laws, —  laws  attem- 
pered and   accommodated  to  the  common  welfare  of;  the 
fubjeifls,  muft  be  fuppofed  to  be  agreeable  to  the  wiH  of 
the  beneficent    author  and    fupreme    Lord  of   the  uni- 
verfe  •,    whofe  kingdom  rulelh  over  all  -,  *    and   whole 

f  Sec  the  margin,    paj^c  lo,  note  f.  *    Pful.   ciii.    19. 

tender 


2  4-        Of  unlimited  SiihmiJJton^  and 

tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works,   t    It  is  blafphemy 
to  call   tyrants    and   opprefibrs,  God's   minijlers.     They 
are  more  properly  the  mejfengers  of  fatan  to  buffet  us,  * 
No  rulers  are  properly  God's  mnijiers,  but  fuch  as  are 
Julf,  ruling  in  the  fear  of  God.  ||    When  once  magiftrates 
aft  contrary  to  their   office,  and  the  end  of  their  infti- 
tution  -,  when  they  rob  and  ruin  the  public,  inftead  of 
being  guardians  of  its  peace   and  welfare  ;    they  imme- 
diately ceafe  to  be  the  ordinance  and   minijlers  of  God  ; 
and  no  more  deferve  that  glorious  charafler  than  common 
pirates  and  highwaymen.     So   that  whenever  that  argu- 
ment for  fubmiffion,  fails,  which  is  grounded  upon  the 
ufefulnefs  of  magiftracy  to  civil   fociety,  (as  it   always 
does    when    magiftrates  do  hurt   to    fociety    inftead  of 
good)   the   other  argument,  which  is  taken  from    their 
being  the  ordinance  of  God,  muft  neceflarily  fail  alfo  ; 
no  perfon  of   a  civil  charafter  being  God's  miniffer,  in 
the  fenfe  of  the  apoftle,  any  farther   than  he  performs 
God's  will,  by  exercifing  a  juft  and  reafonable  authority  5 
and  ruling  for  the  good  of  the  fubjeft. 

This  in  general.  Let  us  now  trace  the  apoftle's 
reafoning  in  favor  of  fubmiffion  to  the  higher  powers,  a 
little  more  particularly  and  exaflly.  For  by  this  it  will 
appear,  on  one  hand,  how  good  and  conclufive  it  is, 
for  fubmiffion  to  thofe  rulers  who  exercife  their  power 
in  a  proper  manner:  And,  on  the  other,  how  weak  and 
trifling  and  inconnedted  it  is,  if  it  be  fuppofed  to  be 
meant  by  the  apoftle  to  ffiow  the  obligation  and  duty  of 

-j-  Pfal.  cxlv.    19.     *   2   Cor.  xil.  7.     |1   2  Sam.  xxiii.  3.^ 

obedience 


Non'RefiJia?Ke  to  the  Higher  Powers.   25 

obedience   to   tyrannical,    opprefTive   rulers  in  common 
with  others  of  a  different  charafler. 

The  apoflle  enters  upon  his  fubjeifb  thus —  Let  every 
foul  be  fuhje5i  unto  the  higher  powers  ;  for  there  is  no 
power  but  of  God  :  the  powers  that  be,  are  ordained 
of  God.*  Here  he  urges  the  duty  of  obedience  from 
this  topic  of  argument,  that  civil  rulers,  as  they  are 
fuppofed  to  fulfil  the  pleafure  of  God,  are  the  ordi- 
nance of  God.  But  how  is  this  an  argument  for  obe- 
dience to  fuch  rulers  as  do  not  perform  the  pleafure 
of  God,'  by  doing  good  ;  but  the  pleafure  of  the 
devil,  by  doing  evil  •,  and  fuch  as  are  not,  therefore, 
God's  minifters,  but  the  devil's  !  Whofoever,  therefore^ 
reftjleth  the  power,  rcfifteth  the  ordinance  of  God  -,  and 
they  that  refi^,  fhall  receive  to  themfelves  damnation,  f 
Here  the  apoftle  argues,  that  thofe  who  refift  a  rea- 
fonable  and  juft  authority,  which  is  agreeable  to  the 
will  of  God,  do  really  refift  the  will  of  God  himfelf ; 
and  will,  therefore,  be  punifhed  by  him.  But  how  does 
this  prove,  that  thofe  who  refift  a  lawlefs,  unreafonable 
power,  which  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  God,  do 
therein  refift  the  will  and  ordinance  of  God  ?  Is  re., 
fifting  thofe  who  refift  God's  will,  the  fame  thing  with 
refifting  God  ?  Or  fliall  thofe  who  do  fo,  receive  to 
themfelves  damnation  !  For  rulers  are  not  a  terror  to  good 
works,  but  to  the  evil.  Wilt  thou  then  not  be  afraid  of 
the  power  ?  Bo  that  which  is  good  \  and  thou  fl^alt  have 
praife  of  the  fame.  For  he  is  the  minifler  of  God  to 
thee  for  good.  \.     Here  the  apoftle  argues  more  explicitly 

*  Ver.    I.     t    Ver.    2.      1  Vcr.    3d.   and  part  of  the  4th. 

E  that! 


2  6        0/  iinUniited  Siihmiffion,,   and 

than  he  had  before  done,  for  revereing,  and  fubmitting 
to,   msgiftracy,   from    this  confideration,    that    fuch  as 
really   performed   the   duty    of  magidrates,    would    be 
enemies    only  to  the  evil  actions   of  men,  and  would 
befriend  and  encourage  the  good  ;    and  fo  be  a  common 
bleffing   to    fociety.      But  how  is    this    an    argument, 
that   we  mufl:  honor,  and   fubmit  to,   fuch  magiftrates 
as  are  not  enemies   to  the  evil  anions  of  men  ;  but  to 
the  good  ;  and  fuch  as  are  not  a  common  bleffing,  but 
a   common    curfe,    to   fociety   1     But    if  thou    do    that 
which  is  evil,  he  afraid :    For  he  is  the  minifier  of  God^ 
a  revevger,  to  execute  ivrath  upon  him  that  doth  evil,  t 
Here   the   apollle  argues  from  the  nature    and  end  of 
magiftracy,  that  fuch  as  did  evil,    (and  fuch  only)    had 
reafon  to  be  afraid  of  the  higher  powers  •,  it  being  part 
cf  their  ofilce  to  punifli  evil  doers,  no  lefs  than  to  de- 
fend and  encourage  fuch  as  do  well.     But  if  magiflrates 
are  unrighteous  •,  if  they  are  refpeSlers  of  perfons   •,     if 
they  are  partial  in  their  adminiftration  of  juftice  •,  then 
thofe  who  do  well  have  as  much   reafon  to  be  afraid^  as 
thofe  that  do  evil  :  there  can  be  no  fafety  for  the  good, 
nor  any  peculiar  ground  of  terror  to  the  unruly  and  in- 
jurious.    So    that,   in    this  cafe,  the   main    end  of  civil 
government  will    be    fruftrated.     And    what   reafon  is 
there   for  fubmitting    to  that  government,   which   does 
by  no  means  anfwer  ihe  defign  of  government  ?  Where- 
fore ye  muji  needs  be  fuhjeSi   not  only  for  wrath^   but  alfo 
for  confcience  fake,  *    Here  the  apoftle  argues  the  duty 
of  a  chearful  and  confcientious  fubmiffion    to  civil  go- 

f    Ver.   4th.   latter  part.         *   Ver.  5. 

vernmenr. 


Non-Refijlance  to  the  Higher  Poivers,  27 

vernment,  from  the  nature  and  end  of  magiftracy  as  he 
had  before  Jaid  it  down,  i.  e.  as  the  defign  of  it  was 
to  piinifli  evil  doers,  and  to  fupport  and  encourage  fuch 
as  do  well  ;  and  as  it  mufl:,  if  fo  exercifed,  be  agreeable 
to  the  will  of  God.  But  how  does  what  he  here  fays, 
prove  the  duty  of  a  chearful  and  conkientious  fubjeflion 
to  thofe  who  forfeit  the  chara(f\er  of  rulers  ?  to  thofe 
who  encourage  the  bad,  and  difcourage  the  good  ?  The 
argument  here  ufed  no  more  proves  it  to  be  a  fin  to 
refifl:  fuch  rulers,  than  it  does,  to  refiii  the  devil,  that  he 
vc\2}j  flee  from  iisj*  For  one  is  as  truly  the  minifter  of  God 
as  the  other.  For,  for  this  caufe  pay  you  tribute  alfo  ; 
for  they  are  God^s  miniflers,  atte/tding  cc72tinually  upon 
this  very  thing,  f  Here  the  apoftle  argues  tlie  duty  of 
paying  taxes,  from  this  confideration,  that  thofe  who 
perform  the  duty  of  rulers,  are  continually  attending 
upon  the  public  welfare.  But  how  does  this  argument 
conclude  for  paying  taxes  to  fuch  princes  as  are  conti- 
nually endeavouring  to  ruin  the  public  ?  And  efpecially 
when  fuch  payment  would  facilitate  and  promote  this 
wicked  defign  !  Render  therefore  to  all  their  dues  ;  tri- 
bute^ to  whom  tribute  is  due  ;  cuflom^  to  whom  cujlom  ; 
fear.,  to  whom  fear  •,  honor.,  to  whom  honor.  \\  Here  the 
apoft:le  fums  up  what  he  had  been  faying  concerning 
the  duty  of  fubje(5ls  to  rulers.  And  his  argument  (lands 
thus  —  "  Since  magifirates  who  execute  their  office  well, 
"  are  common  benefadlors  to  focicty  ;  and  may,  in 
*'  that  rcfpeil,  be  properly  filled  the  minijlers  and  ordi- 
"  nance  of  God  •,  and  fince  they  arc  conftantly  employed 

*  James   iv.   7.         f   Ver.    6.         ||    Vcr.    7. 

in 


2  8         Of  imlbnited   Suhmijfion^  and 

"in  the  fepvice  of  the  public  ;   it  becomes  you  to  pay 
"  therii  tribute  and  cuftom  •,    and  to  reverence,   honor, 
*'  and    fubmit  to,  them   in    the    execution  of  their  re- 
"  fpective  offices."   This  is  apparently  good  reafoning. 
But  does  this  argument  conclude  for  the  duty  of  paying 
tribute,  cuftom,  reverence,  honor  and  obedience,  to  fuch 
perfons  as  (although  they  bear  the  title   of  rulers)  ufe 
all    their  power    to  hurt  and    injure  the   public  ?    fuch 
as  are  not  God*s  minijlers,  but  [atari's  ?    fuch  as  do  not 
take  care  of,  and  attend  upon,    the  public   intereft,  but 
their  own,    to    the   ruin    of   the  public   ?     that  is,  in 
fhort,  to  fuch  as  have  no  natural  and  juft  claim  at  all  to 
tribute,  cuftom,  reverence,  honor    and  obedience  ?     It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  thofe  who  have  any  regard  to  the 
■apoftle's    character  as  an  infpired  writer,  or  even  as  a 
man  of  common  underftanding,  will  not  reprefent  him  as 
reafoning  in  fuch  a  loofe  incoherent  manner  ;  and  draw- 
-iiig  conclufions   which  have  not  the  leaft  relation  to  his 
premifes.     For  what  can  be  more  abfurd  than  an  argu- 
ment thus  framed  ?  "  Rulers  are,   by  their  office,  bound 
*'  to  confult   the  public    welfare  and  the  good   of   fo- 
"  ciety  :  therefore  you  are  bound  to  pay  them  tribute, 
"  to  honor,  and   to  fubmit   to    them,  even   when  they 
"'  deftroy  the  public  welfare,  and  are  a  common  peft  to 
"  fociety,  by  acting  in  direct  contradiflion  to  the  nature 
"  and  end  of  their  office.'* 

Thus,  upon,  a  careful  review  of  the  apoftle's  reafoning 

in  this  palTage,  it  appears  that  his  arguments  to  enforce 

fubmilfion,  are  of  fuch  a  nature,  as  to  conclude  only  in 

favour  of  fubmiffion  to  fuch  rulers  as  he  himfelf  defcrihes  ^ 

i,  e. 


Non-Rejljiance  to  the  Higher  Powers.    29 

i.  e.  fuch  as  rule  for  the  good  of  fociety,  which  is  the 
only  end  of  their  inftitLicion.  Common  tyrants,  and 
public  opprefTors,  are  not  intitled  to  obedience  from 
their  fubjecls,  by  virtue  of  any  thing  here  laid  down 
by  the  infpired  apoIlJe. 

I  NOW  add,  farther,  that  the  apoftle's  argument  is 
fo  far  from  proving  it  to  be  the  duty  of  people  to 
obey,  and  fubmit  to,  fuch  rulers  as  a6l  in  contradicflion 
to  the  public  good,  f  and  fo  to  the  defign  of  their 
office,  that  it  proves  the  dire5l  contrary.  For,  pleafe 
to  obferve,  that  if  the  end  of  all  civil  government,  be 
the  good  of  fociety  ;  if  this  be  the  thing  that  is  aimed 
at  in  conflituting  civil  rulers  ;  and  if  the  motive  and 
argument  for  fjbmifTion  to  government,  be  taken  from 
the  apparent  ufefulnefs  of  civil  authority  ;  it  follows, 
that  when  no  fuch  good  end  can  be  anfwered  by  fub- 
milTion,  there  remains  no  argument  or  motive  to  enforce 
it  ;  if  inftead  of  this  good  end's  being  brought  about 
by  fubmiffion,  a  contrary  end  is  brought  about,  and 
the  ruin  and  mifcry  of  fociety  effedtcd  by  it,  here  is  a 
plain  and  pofitive  reafon  againfl:  fubmiffion  in  all  fuch 
cafes,  (hould  they  ever  happen.  And  therefore,  in  fuch 
cafes,  a  regard  to  the  public  welfare,  ought  to  make 
us  with-hold  from  our  rulers,  that  obedience  and  fub- 
jeflion  which  it  would,  otherwife,  be  our  duty  to  render 
to  them.  If  it  be  our  duty,  for  example,  to  obey  our 
King,  merely  for  this  reafon,  that  he  rules  for  the  pub- 

f  Tliis  docs  not  intend,  their  ailing  fo  in  a  few  particular  inftances^ 
wiiich  the  bed  of  rulers  may  do  through  miflake,  &c.  but  their 
afling  fo  halittiaUy  ;  and  in  a  manner  which  plainly  fhows,  that 
i\%y  aim  at  making  themfelvcs  great,  by  the  ruin  of  their  fubjefls. 

lie 


30  Of  tmllmited  Suhmtjfton^  and 

lie  welfare,  (  which  is  the  only  argument  the  apoftle 
makes  ufe  of)  it  follows,  by  a  parity  of  reafon,  that 
when  he  turns  tyrant,  and  makes  his  fubjedls  his  prey 
to  devour  and  to  deftroy,  inftead  of  his  charge  to  defend 
and  cherifh,  we  are  bound  to  throw  off  our  allegiance 
to  him,  and  to  refifl  ;  and  that  according  to  the  tenor 
of  the  apodle's  argument  in  this  paffage.  Not  to  dif- 
continue  our  allegiance,  in  this  cafe,  would  be  to 
join  with  the  fovereign  in  promoting  the  flavery  and  mi- 
fery  of  that  fociety,  the  welfare  of  which,  we  ourfelves, 
as  well  as  our  fovereign,  are  indifpenfably  obliged  to  fe- 
cure  and  promote,  as  far  as  in  us  lies.  It  is  true  the 
apoftle  puts  no  cafe  of  fuch  a  tyrannical  prince  ;  but  by 
his  grounding  his  argument  for  fubmifTion  wholly  upon 
the  good  of  civil  fociety  -,  it  is  plain  he  implicitly  autho- 
rifes,  and  even  requires  us  to  make  refiftance,  whenever 
this  fhall  be  neceffary  to  the  public  fafety  and  happinefs. 
Let  me  make  ufe  of  this  eafy  and  familiar  fimilitude  to 
illuftrate  the  point  in  hand  —  Suppofe  God  requires  a 
family  of  children,  to  obey  their  father  and  not  to  refift 
him  ;  and  inforces  his  command  with  this  argument  ; 
that  the  fuperintendence  and  care  and  authority  ofajufl: 
and  kind  parent,  will  contribute  to  the  happinefs  of  the 
whole  family  ;  fo  that  they  ought  to  obey  him  for  their 
own  fakes  more  than  for  his  :  Suppofe  this  parent  at 
length  runs  diftrafled,  and  attempts,  in  his  mad  fit,  to 
cut  all  his  children's  throats  :  Now,  in  this  cafe,  is  not 
the  reafon  before  affigned,  why  thefe  children  fhould 
obey  their  parent  while  he  continued  of  a  found    mind, 

namely,  their  common  good,  a  reafon  equally   conclufive 

for 


No7i-RefiJiance  to  the  Higher  Pouters,   3 1 

for  difobeying  and  refifling  him,  fince  he  is  become 
delirious,  and  attempts  their  ruin  ?  It  makes  no  alteration 
in  the  argument,  whether  this  parent,  properly  fpeakino-, 
lofes  his  reafon  ;  or  does,  while  he  retains  his  underftand- 
ing,  that  which  is  as  fatal  in  its  confequences,  as  any 
thing  he  could  do,  were  he  really  deprived  of  it.  This 
fimilitude  needs  no  formal  application  — 

But  it  ought  to  be  remembred,  that  if  the  duty  of 
univerfal  obedience  and  non-refiftance  to  our  king  or 
prince,  can  be  argued  from  this  pafTage,  the  fame  unli- 
mited fubmifTion  under  a  republican,  or  any  other  form 
of  government  -,  and  even  to  all  the  fubordinate  powers 
in  any  particular  ftate,  can  be  proved  by  it  as  well  : 
which  is  more  than  thofe  who  allcdge  it  for  the  menti- 
oned purpofe,  would  be  willing  fhould  be  inferred  from 
it.  So  that  this  pafTage  does  not  anfwer  their  purpofe  ; 
but  really  overthrows  and  confutes  it.  This  matter 
dcferves  to  be  more  particularly  confidered. — The  ad- 
vocates for  unlimited  fubmiflion  and  pafTive  obedience, 
do,  if  1  miQake  not,  always  fpeak  with  reference  to 
kingly  or  monarchical  government,  as  diQinguifhed  from 
all  other  forms  \  and,  with  reference  to  fubmitting  to  the 
will  of  the  king,  in  diflindion  from  all  fubordinate 
officers,  afling  beyond  their  commifTion,  and  the  autho- 
rity which  they  have  received  from  the  crown.  It  is 
not  pretended  that  any  perfon  befides  kings,  have  a  di- 
vine right  to  do  what  they  pleafe,  fo  that  no  one  may 
refifl  them,  without  incurring  the  guilt  of  fa(5tioufnefs 
and  rebellion.     If  any  other  fupreme  powers  opprefs  the 

people. 


3  2         Of  unlimited  Stibmijlfi07ty  and 

people,  it  is  generally  allowed,  that  the  people  ma/ 
get  redrefs,  by  refiftance,  if  other  methods  prove  inef- 
fe(5tual.  And  if  any  officers  in  a  kingly  government, 
go  beyond  the  limits  of  that  power  which  they  have  de- 
rived from  the  crown,  (the  fuppofed  original  fource  of 
all  power  and  authority  in  the  ftate)  and  attempt,  ille- 
gally, to  take  away  the  properties  and  lives  of  their  fel- 
low-fubjedls,  they  may  be  forcibly  refifted,  at  leaft  till 
application  can  be  made  to  the  crown.  But  as  to  the 
fovereign  himfelf,  he  may  not  be  refifted  in  any  cafe  -, 
nor  any  of  his  officers,  while  they  confine  themfelves 
within  the  bounds  which  he  has  prefcribed  to  them. 
This  is,  I  think,  a  true  fl^etch  of  the  principles  of  thofe 
who  defend  the  dodrine  of  paffive  obedience  and  non- 
refiftancc.  Now  there  is  nothing  in  fcripture  which 
fupports  this  fcheme  of  political  principles.  As  to  the 
paffage  under  confideration,  the  apoftle  here  fpeaks  of 
civil  rulers  in  general  -,  of  all  perfons  in  common^  vefted 
with  authority  for  the  good  of  fociety,  without  any  par- 
ticular reference  to  one  form  of  government,  more  than 
to  another  -,  or  to  the  fupreme  power  in  any  particular 
ftate,  more  than  to  fubordinate  powers.  The  apoftle 
does  not  concern  himfelf  with  the  diffi;rent  forms  of  go- 
vernment, t    This  he  fuppofes   left  intirely  to  human 

prudence 

■\  Tlie  efTence  of  governnent  (  I  mean  g'^od  government  ;  and 
this  is  the  only  government  which  the  apolUe  treats  of  in  this  paf- 
fage )  confills  in  the  mnking  and  executing  of  good  ia^ws  —  laws 
attempered  to  the  common  felicity  of  the  governed.  And  if  this  be, 
infatl,  done,  it  is  evidently,  in  it  felf,  a  thing  of  no  confequence 
at  all,  what  ihc  p'vt tenia*-  form  of  government  is  ; —  whether  the 
Itgiflaiive  and  executive  power  be  Iodt;ed  in  one  and  the  fame  per- 

fon. 


Noji-Refijlance  to  the  Higher  Pouters.  3  3 

prudence  and  difcrction.     Now    the  confequence  of  this 
is,    that   unlimited  and  pafTive   obedience,   is   no   more 
enjoined  in  this  pairage^  under  monarchical  government ; 
or  to  the  fupreme   power   in  any   (late,  than  under   all 
other  fpecies  of  government,  which    anfwer  the  end  of 
government  ;  or,  to  all   the  fubordinate  degrees  of  civil 
authority,   from    the   highefl:   to   the    loweft.      Thofe, 
therefore,  who  would  from  this  pafTage   infer  the  guilt 
of  refifting  kings,  in  all   cafes  whatever,  though   afling 
ever  fo  contrary  to  the  defign  of  their  office,  mu{l,if  they 
will  be  confiflent,  go  much  farther,  and  infer  from  it  the 
guilt  of  refiftance  under  all  other  forms  of  government  ; 
and  of  refifting  any  petty  officer  in  the  ftate,    tho'  afling 
beyond  his  commifTion,    in  the   mofl    arbitrary,  illegal 
manner  poflible.     The  argument  holds  equally  ftrong  in 
both  cafes.    All  civil  rulers,  as  fuch,  are  the  ordinance  and 
minijiers  of  God  •,  and  they  are  all,  by  the  nature  of  their 
office,  and  in  their  refpedive  fpheres  and  ftations,  bound 
to  confult  the  public  welfare.     With   the  fame    reafon 
therefore,  that  any    deny  unlimited   and  palTive  obedi- 

fon,  or  in  different  perfons  ;  —  whether  in  one  perfon,  whom  we 
call  an  ahfolute  monarch  ;  —  whether  in  zfcv:,  fo  as  to  conftitute 
an  arijlocrafy  ;  —  whether  in  many,  fo  as  to  conftitute  a  republic  ; 
or  whether  in  three  co-ordinate  branches,  in  fuch  manner  as  to 
make  the  government  partake  fomething  of  each  of  thefe  forms ; 
and  to  be,  at  the  fame  time,  ejjentially  different  from  them  all.  If 
the  ^W be  attained,  it  is  enough.  But  no  form  of  government 
feems  to  be  fo  unlikely  to  accomplifh  this  end,  as  ahfolute  mo- 
narchy     Nor  is  there  any  one  that  has  fo  little  pretence  to  a 

dii'ine  original,  unlefs  it  be  in  this  fenfe,  that  GoAJirJ}  introduced 
it  into,  and  thereby  overturned,  the  common  wealth  of  Ijrael,  as 
a  cur/}  upon  that  people  for  i\\t'\r  folly  and  imickednefs,  particularly 
in  dffiring  fuch  a  government.  (See  i  Sam.  viii.  chap. )  Juft 
fo  God,  before,  fer.t  ^ails  amongft  them,  as  a  plague,  and  a 
/urfi,  and  not  as  a  bleffmg.     Numb.  chap.  xi. 

F  encc 


3  4  Of  tmlimited  Suhmtjfwn^  and 

ence  to  be  here  Injolned  under  a  republic  or  ariftocrafy, 
or  any  other  eftabliflied  form  of  civil  government  •,  or 
to  fubordinate  powers,  acting  in  an  illegal  and  opprelTive 
manner  ;  (with  the  fame  reafon)  others  may  deny,  that 
fuch  obedience  is  enjoined  to  a  king  or  monarch,  or  any 
civil  power  whatever.  For  the  apoftle  fays  nothing  that  is 
peculiar  to  kings  ;  what  he  fays,extends  equally  to  all  other 
pcrfons  whatever,  veiled  with  any  civil  office.  They  are 
all,  in  exactly  the  fame  fenfe,  the  ordinance  of  God  j  and 
the  minijlers  of  God  ;  and  obedience  is  equally  enjoined 
to  be  paid  to  them  all.  For,  as  the  apoftle  exprefTes  it, 
there  is  NO  POWER  but  of  God:  And  we  are  requi- 
red to  render  to  ALL  their  DUES  ;  and  not  MORE 
than  their  DUES.  And  what  thefe  dues  are,  and  to 
whopi  they  are  to  be  rendered,  the  apoftle  fayeth  not-,  but 
ieaves  to  the  reafon  and  confciences  of  men  to  determine. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  the  common  argument, 
grounded  upon  this  pafTage,  in  favor  of  univerfal,  and, 
paflive  obedience,  really  overthrows  itfelf,  by  proving 
too  much,  if  it  proves  any  thing  at  all  ;  namely,  that 
no  civil  officer  is,  in  any  cafe  whatever,  to  be  refifted, 
though  ading  in  exprefs  contradi(5lion  to  the  defign  of 
]us  office  ;  which  no  man,  in  his  fenfes,  ever  did,  or  can 
affert. 

If  we  calmly  confider  the  nature   of  the   thing  itfelf, 

nothing  can  well  be  imagined  more  direflly  contrary  to 

common' fenfe,  than  to  fuppofe   that   millions  of  people 

fliould   be  fubjefied  to  the  arbitrary,  precarious  pleafure 

of 


Non-ReJiJlaJice  to  the  Higher  Powers.  3  5 

of  one  fingk  man  ;  (who  has  naturally  no  fuperlority 
over  them  in  point  of  authorityj  fo  that  their  eftates, 
and  every  thing  that  is  vakiable  in  Jifc,  and  even  their 
lives  alfo,  fliall  be  abfolutely  at  his  difpofal,  if  he  happens 
to  be  wanton  and  capricious  enough  to  demand  them. 
What  unprejudiced  man  can  think,  that  God  made  ALL 
to  be  thus  fubfervient  to  the  lawlefs  pleafure  and  phrenzy 
of  ONE,  fo  that  it  fhall  always  be  a  fin  to  refift  him  ! 
Nothing  but  the  moft  plain  and  exprefs  revelation  from 
heaven  could  make  a  fober  impartial  man  believe  fuch 
a  monftrous,  unaccountable  doftrine,  and,  indeed,  the 
thing  itfelf,  appears  fo  fhocking  —  fo  out  of  all  propor* 
tion^  that  it  may  be  queftioned,  whether  all  the  miracles 
that  ever  were  wrought,  could  make  it  credible,  that 
this  doiflrine  really  came  from  God.  At  prefent,  there 
is  not  the  lead  fyllable  in  fcripture  which  gives  any  coun- 
tenance to  it.  The  hereditary,  indefeafible,  divine  right 
of  kings,  and  the  dodrine  of  non-refiftance,  which  is  built 
upon  the  fuppofition  of  fuch  a  right,  are  altogether  as 
fabulous  and  chimerical,  as  tranfubftantiation  ;  or  any  of 
the  mod  abfurd  reveries  of  ancient  or  modern  yifionaries. 
Thefe  notions  are  fetched  neither  from  divine  revelation, 
nor  human  realon  ;  and  if  they  are  derived  from  neither 
of  thofe  fources,  it  is  not  much  matter  from  whence  they 
come^  or  whither  they  go.  Only  it  is  a  pity  that  fuch 
do6lrines  fliould  be  propagated  in  fociety,  to  raife  fac- 
tions and  rebellions,  as  we  fee  they  have,  in  fadl,  been 
both  in  the   laft^   and    in    the  prefent,  REIGN. 

But  then,  if  unlimited  fubmifilon   and  paffive   obedi- 
ence to  the  higher  powers^  in   all  poUlble  cafes,  be  not  a 

duty. 


36        Of  tinlimited  Submijfton^    and 

duty,  it  will  be  aflced,  "  How  far  are  we  obliged  to 
"  iubmit  ?  If  we  may  innocently  difobey  and  refifl:  in 
"  fome  cafes,  why  not  in  all  ?  Where  fliall  we  (lop  ? 
*'  What  is  the  meafure  of  our  duty  ?  This  doflrine 
*'  tends  to  the  total  difTolution  of  civil  government  ; 
*'  and  to  introduce  fuch  fcenes  of  wild  anarchy  and  con- 
«•  fufion,  as  are  more  fatal  to  fociety  than  the  worft  of 
*'  tyranny." 

After  this  manner,  fome  men  objedl  ;  and,  indeedg 
this  is  the  mofl  plaufible  thing  that  can  be  faid  in  favor 
of  fuch  an  abfolute  fubmiflion  as  they  plead  for.  But 
the  worft  (or  rather  the  beft)  of  it,  is,  that  there  is  very 
little  ftrength  or  folidity  in  it.  For  fimilar  difficulties 
may  be  raifed  with  refpefl  to  almoft  every  duty  of  natural 
and  revealed  religion. — Toinftance  only  in  two,  both  of 
which  are  near  akin,  and  indeed  exa6lly  parallel,  to  the  cafe 
before  us.  It  is  unqueftionably  the  duty  of  children  to 
fubmit  to  their  parents ;  and  of  fervants,  to  their  mafters. 
But  no  one  afferts,  that  it  is  their  duty  to  obey,  and 
fubmit  to  them,  in  all  fuppofeable  cafes  ;  or  univerfally 
a  fin  to  refift  them.  Now  does  this  tend  to  fubvert  the 
juft  authority  of  parents  and  mafters  .?  Or  to  introduce 
confufion  and  anarchy  into  private  families  .?  No.  How 
then  does  the  fame  principle  tend  to  unhinge  the  govern- 
ment of  that  larger  family,  the  body  politic  ?  We  know, 
in  general,  that  children  and  fervants  are  obliged  to 
obey  their  parents  and  mafters  refpedlively.  We  know 
alfo,  with  equal  certainty,  that  they  are  not  obliged  to 
fubmit  to  them  in  all  things,   without  exception  ;    but 

may,  ii>  fome  cafes,  reafonably,  and  therefore  innocently, 

refift 


Non-Rcfijla?ice  to  the  Higher  Forcers.  3  7 

refifl:  them.  Thcfe  principles  are  acknowledged  upon  all 
hands,  whatever  difficulty  there  may  be  in  nxing  the 
exact  limits  of  fubmifiion.  Now  there  is  at  leaft  as 
much  difficulty  in  dating  the  meafure  of  duty  in  thefe 
two  cafes,  as  in  the  cafe  of  rulers  and  fubjects.  So  that 
this  is  really  no  objection,  at  leaft  no  reafonable  one, 
againft  refiftance  to  the  higher  powers  :  Or,  if  it  is  one, 
it  will  hold  equally  againft  refiftance  in  the  ocher  cafes 
mentioned.  —  It  is  indeed  true,  that  turbulent,  vicious- 
minded  men,  may  take  occafion  from  this  principle,  that 
their  rulers  may,  in  fome  cafes,  be  lawfully  refifled,  to 
raife  factions  and  difturbances  in  the  ftate  •,  and  to  make 
refiftance  where  refiftance  is  needlefs,  and  therefore,  fin- 
ful.  But  is  it  not  equally  true,  that  children  and  fer- 
vants  of  turbulent,  vicious  minds,  may  take  occafion  from 
this  principle,  that  parents  and  mafters  may,  in  fome 
cafes  be  lawfully  refifted,  to  refift  when  refiftance  is  un- 
neceftary,  and  therefore,  criminal  ?  Is  the  principle  in 
either  cafe  falfe  in  itfelf,  merely  becaufe  it  may  be  abu- 
fed  i  and  applied  to  legitimate  difobedience  and  refift- 
ance in  thofe  inftances,  to  which  it  ought  not  to  be 
applied  ?  According  to  this  way  of  arguing,  there  will  be 
no  true  principles  in  the  world  ;  for  there  are  none  but 
what  may  be  wrefted  and   perverted    to  fcrvc   bad    pur- 

pofes,  either  through  the  vveaknefs  or  wickednefsof  men.f 

A 

f  We  may  very  fafely  afTert  thefc  two  things  in  general,  without 
undermining  government  :  One  is,  That  no  civil  rulers  are  to  be 
obeyed  when  they  enjoin  tilings  that  are  inconfillent  with  the 
commands  of  God  :  Ail  fuch  dilobcdience  is  lawful  and  gloriou?  ; 
particul.irly,if  perfons  rerul'eto  comply  with  any  i.gal  tJtcd'iiJ/.Tmnt 
of  religion,   becaufe  it  is  a  grofs  pervcrfion  and  corruption  (  as   to 

doflrine. 


3  8         Of  imlhnited  Submijpo^i^  a?id 

A   PEOPLE,  really  opprefled  to  a   great   degree  by 

their  fovereign,  cannot  well  be  infenfible  when  they  are 

fo  opprefled.     And  fucha  people  (if  I  may  allude  to  an 

ancient /3(^/^)  have,  like  the  hefperian  fruit,  a  DRAGON 

for 

doflrine,  wordiip  and  difcipline  )  of  a  pure  and  divine  religion, 
brought  from  heaven  to  earth  by  the  Son  of  God,  (  the  only  King 
and  Head  of  the  chrijlian  church  )    and  propagated  through  the 
world  by  his  infpired   apoflles.     AH  commands  running   counter 
.to  the  declared  will  of  the  fupreme  legiflator  of  heaven  and  earth, 
are  null  end  void  :  And  therefore  difobedience  to  them  is  a  duty, 
not  a  crime.     (See  the  marginal  note,  page  7.)  —  Another  thing 
that  may  be  afTerted  with  equal  truth  and  fafety,  is,  That  no  go- 
vernment is  to  be   fubmitted  to,    at  the  expence   of  that  which  is 
the  fole  end  of  all  government,  —  the  common  good  and  fafety  of 
fociety.     Becaufe,  to  fubmit  in  this  cafe,  if  it  (hould  ever  happen, 
would  evidently  be  to  fet  up  the  7}ieam  as  more  valuable,  and  a- 
bove,  the  end:   than  which  there  cannot  be  a  greater  folecifm  and 
contradidlion.     I'he  only  reafon  of  the  infcitution  of  civil  govern- 
ment ;  and  the  only  rational  ground  of  fubmiffion  to  it,  is    the 
common    fafety  and  utility.     If  therefore,  in  any  cafe,  the  com- 
mon fafety  and  utility  would  not  be   promoted    by  fubmiffion  to 
government,  but  the  contrary,  there  is  no  ground  or  motive  for 
obedience  and  fubmiffion,  but,  for  the  contrary. 
Whoever  confiders  the  nature  of   civil  government   muft,  indeed, 
be  fenfible  that  a  great   degree  of  implicit   confidence,    muft  un- 
avoidably be  placed  in  thofe  that  bear  rule  :  this  is  implied  in  the 
very  notion  of  authority's  being  originally  a  /;«/?,  committed  by 
the  people,   to  thofe  who  are  vefted  with  it,  as  all  juft  and  righ- 
teous authority  is  ;    all  befides,  is  mere  lawlefs  force  and   ufurpa- 
tion  ;    neither  God  nor  nature,  having  given  any  man  a  right  of 
dominion  over  any  fociety,   independently   of  that  fociety's  ap- 
probation,and  confent  to  be  governed  by  him — Now  as  all  men 
are  fallible,  it  cannot    be  fuppofed    that  the  public  affairs  of  any 
ftate,  fhould  be  always  adminiftrcd  in   the  beft    manner  poffible, 
even  by  pcrfons  of  the  greatelt  wifdom  and  integrity.     Nor  is  it 
fufficient  to  legitimate  difobedience  to  the  higher  ponx^ers  that  they 
are  not  fo  adminiftred  ;  or  that  they  are,   in  fome  inftances,  very 
ill-managed  ;     for  upon  this  principle,  it  is  fcarcely  fuppofeable 
that  any  government  at  all  could  be  fupported,  or  fubfilt.   Such  a 
principle    manifertly    tends  to  the  difibiution    of     government  ; 
and  to  throw  all  things  into  confufion    and  anarchy. — But    it  is 
equally    evident,   upon  the  other    hand,   that   thole   in  authority 
may  abufe  their    truji  and  power  to  fuch  a  dgnc,    that   neither 
the  law  of  reafon,   nor  of  religion,  requires,  that  any  obedience 

or 


No7i-ReftJlance  to  the  Higher  Pcivers.  39 

for  their  froUilor  and  guardian :    Nor  would  they  have 
any  reafon  to  mourn,   if  fome  HER.CULES  fliould  ap- 

or  fubmiflion  fnould  be  paid  to  them  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that 
they  Hiould  be  totally  (iifcc:.>\id  ;  and  ihe  authority  which  they 
were  before  vcfted  with,  transferred  to  others,  who  may  exercife 
it  more  to  thofe  good  purpofcs  for  which  it  is  given. — Kor  is 
this  principle,  that  refiilance  to  the  higher  poi.i-ers,  is,  in  forre  ex- 
traordinary cafes,  juliifiable,  fo  liable  to  abufc,  r.s  many  perfons 
fecm  to  apprehend  it.  For  although  there  will  be  always  fome 
petulant,  querulous  men,  in  every  Hate  —  men  of  jfadlicus,  tur- 
bulent and  carping  difpofitions, —  glad  to  lay  hold  of  any  trifle  to 
juftify  and  legitimate  their  caballing  againft  their  rulers,  and 
other  feditious  prailices  ;  yet  there  are,  comparatively  fpcaking, 
but  few  men  of  this  contemptible  charnSIer.  It  does  not  appear 
but  that  mankind,  in  general,  have  a  cifpofition  to  be  as  fubmif- 
five  and  paiilve  and  tame  under  government  ar  they  ought  to  be. 

Witnefs  a  great,  if  not  the  grcateft,  part  of  the  known  world, 

who  are  now  groaning,  but  not  murmuring,  under  the  lieavy 
yoke  of  tyranny  !  While  thofe  who  govern,  do  it  with  any  toler- 
able degree  of  moderation  and  juftice,  and,  in  any  good  nieafure 
ad  up  to  their  oflice  and  charadler,  by  being  public  benefaiSiors  ; 
the  people  will  generally  be  eafy  and  peaceable  ;  a!]d  be  rather 
inclined  to  flatter  and  adore,  than  to  infult  and  rcflll:,  them.  Nor 
was  there  ever  any  general  complaint  againll:  any  adminiftration, 
n.i:hich  lajled  loTigy  but  what  there  was  good  reafon  for.  Till 
people  find  thcmfelves  greatly  abufed  and  oppreflcd  by  their  gover- 
nors, they  are  not  apt  to  complain;  and  whenever  they  do,  in  faft, 
find  themfelves  thus  abufed  and  opprcfled.they  muflbeftupid  not  to 
complain.  To  (ay  that  fubjefts  in  general  are  not  proper  judges 
when  their  governors  oppreJs  them,  and  play  the  tyrant  ;  and 
when  they  defend  their  rights,  adminillcr  juftice  impartially,  and 
promote  the  public  welfare,  is  as  great  trcdjon  as  ever  man  utter- 
ed ;  —  'tis  trcafon,  —  not  againll  one  fivgle  man,  but  the  flate 
—  againfl;  the  whole  body  politic  ;  —  'tis  treafon  r.gainfl  man- 
kind ; —  'tis  trcafon  againll  common  fcrfe  ; —  'tis  trcafon  aguinft 
God.  And  this  impious  principle  lays  the  foundation  for  jullify- 
ing  all  the  tyranny  and  oppreflion  that  ever  any  prince  was  guilty 
of.  The  people  know  for  v,  hat  end  they  fet  up,  and  maintain, 
their  governors  ;  and  they  are  tiie  proper  judges  when  they  ex- 
ecute their  tnij)  as  they  ought  to  do  ir ; —  when  tlicir  prii.ce  ex- 
ercilcs  an  equitable  and  paternal  authority  over  them  ; —  when 
from  a  prince  and  common  father,  he  exalts  himfeif  into  a  ty- 
rant—  when  frnrn  fubjcits  and  children,  he  degrades  them  into 
the  clafsof  flaves ; —  plunders  them,  makes  them  his  prey",  and 
unnaturally  fports  himfdf  with  their  lives  and  fortunes 

pear 


40         Of   King   CHARLES'S 

pear  to  difpatch  him — For  a  nation  thus  abufed  to  arife 
iinanimouQy,  and  to  rcfifl  their  prince,  even  to  the  de- 
throning him,  is  not  criminal  -,  but  a  reafonable  way  of 
vindicating  their  liberties  and  jufl  rights  •,  it  is  making 
ufe  of  the  means,  and  the  only  means,  which  God  has 
put  into  their  power,  for  mutual  and  felf-defence.  And 
it  would  be  highly  criminal  in  them,  not  to  make  ufe 
of  this  means.  It  would  be  ftupid  tamenefs,  and  unac- 
countable folly,  for  whole  nations  to  fufFer  one  unreafona- 
ble,  ambitious  and  cruel  man,  to  wanton  and  riot  in  their 
mifery.  And  in  fuch  a  cafe  it  would,  of  the  two,  be 
more  rational  to  fuppofe,  that  they  that  did  NOT  rejijl, 
than  that  they  who  did,  would  receive  to  themfehes 
damnation. 


And 

'T'HIS  naturally   brings  us  to  make    fome  refleflions 

upon   the  refiflance  which  was  made  about  a  century 

fince,  to  that  unhappy  prince,  KING  CHARLES    I  ; 

and  upon  the  ANNIVERSARY  of  his  death.     This  is 

a  point  which  I  Ihould  not  have  concerned  myfelf  about, 

were  it  not  that  fome  men  continue  to  fpeak  of  it,  even 

to  this  day,  with  a  great  deal  of  warmth  and  zeal  ;  and 

in  fuch  a  manner  as  to   undermine  all   the   principles  of 

LIBERTY,   whether  civil  or  religious,  and  to  introduce 

the  mofl  abjed  flavery  both  in  church  and  flate  :    fo 

that  it   is  become  a  matter  of  univerfal  concern. — What 

I  have  to  offer  upon  this  fubjeft,   will    be  comprifed  in 

a  fhort  anfwer   to  the  following  ([ueries  ;    viz. 

For. 


Saintship  a?id   Martvrdom.        41 

For  what  reafon  the  refiftance  to  king  Charles  the 
Virji  was  made  ? 

By  whom  it   was  made  ? 

Whether  this  refiftance  was  REBELLION,  t  or 
not    ? 

How  the  Ayimverfary  of  king  Charlei*s>  death  came  at 
firji  to  be  folemnized  as  a  day  of  fading  and  humiliation  ? 
And  laftly, 

Why  thofe  of  the  epifcopal  clergy  who  are  very  high 
in  the  principles  of  ecckftaftical  authority^  continue  to 
fpeak  of  this  unhappy  man,  as  a  great  SAINT  and  a 
MARTYR  ? 

For.  what   reafon,  then,   was  the   refiftance    to  king 
Charles,  made  ?    The  general  anfwer  to   this    inquiry  is, 
that   it  was  on  account  of  the  tyranny  and  opprejfion  of  his 
reign.     Not  a   great    while    after   his   accedion    to  the 
throne,  he  married  a  french  catholic  ;  and  with  her  feemed 
to  have  wedded  the  politics,  if  not  the  religion  0^ France, 
alfo.     For  afterward?,  during  a  reign,  or  rather  a  tyranny 
of  many  year?,  he  governed  in  a  perfedly  wild  and  arbi- 
trary manner,  paying  no   regard  to  the  conftitution  and 
the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  by  which   the  power  of  the 
crown  was  limited  ;  or  to  the  folemn  oath  which  he  had 
taken   at  his  coronation.     It  would  be  endlefs,   as  well 
as  needlefs,  to  give  a  particular  account  of  all  the  illegal 
and  defpotic  mcafures   which  he  took   in  his  adminiftra- 
tion  ; — partly  from  his  own  natural  luft  of   power,    and 
partly   from  the    influence   of    wicked   councellors   and 

f  N.  B.  I  fpeak  of  rebellion,  ireafon,  faintfhip,  martyrdom,  &c. 
throughout  this  difcourfc,  only  in  the  jcripiural  and  theological 
fcnfe.     i  know  not  how  the  Lixx:  defines  them  ;  the  ftudy  of  that 

not  being  m/  employment > 

G  minifter?.— 


42  Of   King   CHARLES'S 

minifters. — He  committed  many  illuftrious  members  of 
both  houfes  of  parliament  to  the  tower^^ox  oppofing  his  ar- 
bitrary fchemes. . — He  levied  many  taxes  upon  the  people 
without  confent  of  parliament  ; — and  then  imprifoncd 
great  numbers  of  the  principal  merchants  and  gentry  for 
not  paying  them. — He  erefled,  or  at  leaft  revived,  feveral 
new  and  arbitrary  courts,  in  which  the  mod  unheard-of 
barbarities  were  committed  with  his  knowledge  and 
approbation —  He  fupported  that  more  than  fiend, 
arch-bifhop  Laud  and  the  clergy  of  his  ftamp,  in  all  their 
church-tyranny  and  hellifh  cruelties  —He  authorifed  a 
book  in  favor  of  /ports  upon  the  Lord's  day  j  and  feveral 
clergymen  were  perfecuted  by  him  and  the  mentioned 
fious  blfliop,  for  not  reading  it  to  the  people  after  divine 
fervice — When  the  parliament  complained  to  him  of  the 
arbitrary  proceedings  of  his  corrupt  minifters,  he  told 
that  augujl  body,  in  a  rough,  domineering,  unprincely 
manner,  that  he  wondred  any  one  fhould  be  fo  foolilh 
and  infolent  as  to  think  that  he  would  part  with  the 
nieaneft  of  his  fervants  Jipoii  their  account — He  refufed 
to  call  any  parliament  at  all  for  the  fpace  of  twelve 
years  together,  during  all  which  time,  he  governed  in  an 
abfolute  lawlefs  and  defpotic  manner — He  took  all  op- 
portunities to  encourage  the  papijis,  and  to  promote  them 
to  the  higheft  offices  of  honor  and  truft  —  He  (  proba- 
bly )  abetted  the  horrid  malTacre  in  Ireland,  in  which 
two  hundred  thoufand  proteftants  were  butchered  by  the 
roman  catholics, — He  fent  a  large  fum  of  money,  which 
he  had  raifed  by  his  arbitrary  taxes,  into  Germany,  to  raife 

foreign  troops,  in  order  to  force  more  arbitrary  taxes 

upon 


SaIntship  and  Martyrdom.        4.3 

upon  his  fubjefts. — He  not  only  by  a  long  feries  of  a5li- 
ons,  but  alfo  in  plain  terms,  aflerted  an  abfolute  iincon- 
troulable  power  ;  faying  even  in  one  of  his  fpeeches  to 
parliament,  that  as  it  was  blafphemy  to  difputc  what 
God  might  do  -,  fo  it  was  fedition  in  fubjedls  to  difpute 
what  the  king  might  do.  —  Towards  the  end  of  his 
tyranny,  he  came  to  the  houfe  of  commons  with  an  armed 
force,  f  and  demanded  five  of  its  principal  members  to 
be  delivered  up  to  him — And  this  was  a  prelude  to  that 
unnatural  war  which  he  foon  after  levied  againft  his  own 
dutiful  fubjecfts  ;  whom  he  was  bound  by  all  the  laws  of 
honor,  humanity,  piety,  and  I  might  add, of  interefl  alfo,  to 
defend  and  cherifli  with  a  paternal  ai!fed:ion — I  have  only 
time  to  hint  at  thefe  fa^fls  in  a  general  way,  all  which, 
and  many  more  of  the  fame  tenor,  may  be  proved  by 
good  authorities  :  So  that  the  figurative  language  which 
St.  John  ufes  concerning  thejufl:  and  beneficent  deeds 
of  our  bleffed  Saviour,  may  be  applied  to  the  unrighteous 
and  execrable  deeds  of  this  prince,  viz.  And  there  are 
alfo  many  other  things  which  king  Charles  did,  the  which, 
if  they  fhould  be  written  every  one,  I  ftippofe  that  even  the 
world  itfelf,  could  not  contain  the  hooks  that  fhould  he 
written.  *  Now  it  was  on  account  of  king  Charleses 
thus  afTuming  a  power  above  the  laws,  in  direft  contra- 
diflion  to  his  coronation-oath,  and  governing  the  greateft 
part  of  his  time,  in  the  moft  arbitrary  oppreflive  manner  ; 
it  was  upon  this  account,   that  that   refiftance  was  made 

•f-  Hidorians  are  not  agreed,  what  number  of  foldiers  attended  him 
in  this  monftrous  invafion  of  the  priviledges  of  parliament — Some 
fay  300,  fome  400  :  And  the  author  of  (he  hijhry  of  the  kings  of 
Scotland,  fays   500.  *  John  xxi.    25. 

to 


44-  Of  King  CHARLES'S 

to   him,  which,  at  length,  iffued  in  the  lofs  of  his  crown, 
and   of  that  head  which  was  unworthy  to  wear  it. 

But  by  whom  was  this   refifiance  made  ?    Not  by  a 
private  junto  \ — not  by  a  fmall  feditious  -party  -, — not  by 
a  few  defparadoes^  who,  to  mend  their   fortunes,   would 
embroil  the  flate  •,— but  by  the  LORD's  and  COMMONS 
o^ England.    It  was  they  that  almoft  unanimoudy  oppofed 
the  king's  meafures  for  overturning  the  conftitution,  and 
changing  that  free  and  happy  government  into  a  wretched, 
abfolute  monarchy.     It  was  they  that  when  the  king  was 
about  levying  forces  againfl:  his  fubjefls,  in  order  to  make 
himfelf  abfolute,    commiffioned   officers,    and  raifed    an 
army  to  defend  themfelves  and  the  public  :  And  it  was 
they  that  maintained  the  war  againft   him  all  along,  till 
he  was  made  a  prifoner.     This  is  indifputable.     Though 
it  was  not   properly   fpeaking  the   parliament,    but   the 
army,  which  put  him  to  death  afterwards.     And  it  ought 
to  be  freely    acknowledged,  that    moft  of  their  proceed- 
ing, in  order  to  get  this  matter   effcifled  •,    and  particu- 
larly the  court  by  which  the  king  was   at  lad  tried  and 
condemned,  was   little  better  than  a   mere   mockery  of 
juflice. — 

The  next  queftion  which  naturally  arifes,  is,  whether 
this  refiftance  which  was  made  to  the  king  by  the  par- 
liament., was  properly  rebellion,  or  not  ?  The  anfwer  to 
which  is  plain,  that  it  was  not  ;  but  a  moft  righteous 
and  glorious  ftand,  made  in  defence  of  the  natural  and 
legal  rights  of  the  people,againft  the  unnatural  and  illegal 
encroachments  of  arbitrary   power.    Nor  was  this  a  rafh 

and 


Saintsiiip  ajul  Martyrdom.         4? 

and  too  fudden  oppofition.     The  nation  had  been  patient 

under  the   opprefTions   of  the   crown,  even  to    long  fuf- 

f&ring  ;  — for  a  courfe  of  many  years;  and  there  was    no 

rational  hope  of  rcdrefs  in  any  other  way — Refinance  was 

abfolutely  neceflary  in  order  to  preferve  the   nation  from 

flavery,  mifery  and  ruin.     And  who  fo  proper  to  make 

this  refiftance  as  the   lords  and  commons  -, — the   whole 

reprefentative  body  of  the  people;  —  guardians  of  the 

public  welfare  ;  and  each  of  which    was,  in  point  of   le- 

giflation,  veiled  with  an  equal,   co-ordinate  power,  with 

that  of  the  crown  ?  t     Here  were  two  branches  of  the 

legiflature 

f  The  f^^Ay^conftitution  is  originally  and  eflentially/zv^.  The  charac- 
ter which  y.  Civfar  and  Tacitui  both  give  of  the  ancient  Britains 
fo  long  ago,  is,  That  they  were  extremely /Va/sw  cf  their  liberties, 
as  veil  as  a  people  of  a,  martial  fpirit.  Nor  have  there  been 
wanting  frequent  inflances  and  proofs  of  the  fame  glorious  fpirit 
(  in  both  refpefts  )  remaining  in  their  pollerity  ever  fince,  —  in 
the   ftruggles  they  have   made  for    liberty,    both  againlt  foreign 

and  domellic   tyrants.    Their  kings  hold   their  title   to    the 

t  irone,  folely  by  grant  of  parliament  ;  i.  e.  in  other  words,  by 
the  voluntary  confent  of  the  people.  And,  agrcably  hereto,  the 
prerogative  ar.d  rights  of  the  crown  are  Itatcd,  defined  and  limited 
by  law  ;  and  that  as  truly  and  Itridly  as  the  rights  of  any  in- 
ferior ofliccr  in  the  ilate  ;  or  indeed,  of  any  private  fubieiH.  And 
it  is  only  in  this  refpedl  that  it  can  be  faid,  that  *'  the  king  can 
"  do  no  wrong."  Being  reftrained  by  the  law,  he  cannot,  while 
he  confines  himfelf  within  thofe  juft  limits  which  the  law 
prefcribes  to  him  as  the  meafure  of  his  authority,  injure 
and  cpprels  the  fubjed.' — The  king,  in  his  coronation  oath, 
fwears  to  exercife  only  fuch  a  power  as  the  conditution  gives 
him  :  And  the  fubjefl,  in  the  oath  of  allegiance,  fwears  only  to 
obey  him  in  the  exercife  of  fuch  a  power.  The  king  is  as  much 
bound  by  his  oath,  not  to  infringe  the  legal  rights  of  the  people, 
as  the  people  are  bound  to  yield  fubjedion  to  him.  From  whence 
it  follows,  that  as  foon  as  the  prince  fcts  himfelf  up  above  law, 
he  lofcs  the  king  in  the  tyrant  :  he  does  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
pofes,  unking  himfelf,  by  ailing  out  of,  and  beyond,  that  fphere 
which  the  conftitution  allows  him  to  move  in.  And  in  fuch 
cafes,  he  has  no  more  right  to  be  obeyed,  than  any  inferior  of- 
jicer  who  afts  beyond  his  commiffion.     The  fubjedls  obligation 

to 


46  Of  King  CHARLES'S 

legiQature  againft  one  ;— two,  which  had  law  and  equity 
and  the  conftitution  on  their  fide,  againft  one  which  was 
impioudy  attempting  to  overturn  law  and  equity  and  the 
conftitution  j  and  to  exercife  a  wanton  licentious /ct;^m]^«- 
ty  over  the  properties,  confciences  and  lives  of  all  the 
people: — Such  a  fovereignty  as  fome  inconfiderately  afcribe 
to  the  fupreme  Governor  of  the  world. — T  fay,  inconfi- 
derately ;  becaufe  God  himfelf  does  not  govern  in  an 
abfolutely  arbitrary  and  defpotic  manner.  The  power  of 
this  Almighty  King  (I  fpeak  it  not  without  caution  and 
reverence  •,  the  power  of  this  Almighty  King)  is  limited 
by  law  \  nor,  indeed,  by  a^s  of  parlimnent^  but  by  the 
eternal  laws  of  truth,  wifdom  and  equity  ;  and  the  ever- 
kfliing  tables  of  right  reafon  ;  —  tables  that  cannot  be 
repealed^  or  thrown  down  and  broken  like  thofe  of  Mofes, 
— But  king  Charles  fat  himfelf  up  above  all  thefe,  as 
much  as  he  did  above  the  written  laws  of  the  realm  j 
and  made  mi  ere  humor  and  caprice,  which  are  no  rule  at 
all,  the  only  rule  and  meafure  of  his  adminiftration.  And 
now,  is  it  not  pcrfedly  ridiculous  to  call  refiftance  to 
fuch  a  tyrant,  by  the  name  o^  rebellion  ?  —  the  grand 
rebellion  ?  Even  that parliament,  which  brought  king 

to  allegiance  thc7i  ceafes  of  courfe  :  and  to  refift  him,  is  no  more 
rchcllion,  than  to  refill  any  foreign  invader.  There  is  an  ellential 
difference  betwixt  government  and  tyranny  ;  at  lead  under  fuch 
a  coiillitution  as  the  englijh.  The  former  confifts  in  ruh'ng  ac- 
cording to  law  and  equity  ;  the  latter,  in  ruling  contrary  to  law 
and  equity.  So  alfo,  there  is  an  effential  difference  betwixt  re- 
fiftin?,  a  tyrant,  and  rebellion  ;  The  former  is  a  jiift  and  reafona- 
ble  felf- defence  ;  the  latter  confirts  in  refitting  a  prince  whofe  ad- 
miniftration is  juft  and  leg^al  ;  and  this  is  what  denominates  it  a 
crime.  —  Now  it  is  evident,  that  king  Charlis's  government  was 
illegal, and  very  opprcfTive,  through  the  grcatefl  part  of  his  reign  : 
And,  therefore,  to  refilt  him,  was  no  more  rebellion,  than  to  op- 
pofe  an/  foreign  invader,  or  any  other  domeib'c  opprelibr 

Charles 


Saintship  ^W  Martyrdom.         47 

Charles  II.  to  the  throne,  and  which  run  loyally  mady 
feverely  reproved  one  of  their  own  members  for  condem- 
ning the  proceedings  of  that  parliament  which  firft  took 
up  arms  againft  the  former  king.  And  upon  the  fame 
principles  that  the  proceedings  of  this  parliament  may  be 
cenfured  as  wicked  and  rebellious,the  proceedings  of  thofe 
who,  fince,  oppofed  king  James  II,  and  brought  the 
prince  of  Orange  to  the  throne,  may  be  cenfured  as 
wicked  and  rebellious  alfo.  The  cafes  are  parallel. — But 
whatever  feme  men  may  tbinky  it  is  to  be  hoped  that,  for 
their  own  fake?,  they  will  not  dare  to  /peak  againft  the 
REVOLUTION,  upon  the  juflice  and  legality  of  which 
depends  (in  part)  his  prefent  MAJESTY'S  right  to  the 
throne. 

If  it  be  faid,  that  although  the  parliament  which  firfl 
oppofed  king  Charles's  meafures,  and  at  length  took  up 
arms  againft  him,  were  not  guilty  of  rebellion  ;  yet  cer- 
tainly thofe  perfons  were,  who  condemned,  and  put 
him  to  death  ;  even  this  perhaps  is  not  true.  For  he 
had,  in  fafl,  unkinged  himfelf  long  before,  and  had 
forfeited  his  title  to  the  allegiance  of  the  people.  So 
that  thofe  who  put  him  to  death,  were,  at  moft  only  guilty 
of  murder  ;  which,  indeed,  is  bad  enough,  if  they  were 
really  guilty  of  ihal ;  (  which  is  at  leaft  difputable.  ) 
Cromwell^znd  thofe  who  were  principally  concerned  In  the 
(  nominal)  king's  death,  might  pofilbly  have  been  very 
wicked  and  defigning  men.  Nor  (hall  I  fay  any  thing 
in  vindication  of  the  reigning  hypocrify  of  thofe  times  ; 
or  of  Cromwell's  male-adminiftration  during  the  infer- 
regnum  :  (  for  it  \%  truths  and  not  a  party ^  that  I  am  fpeak- 

ing 


48         0/^/>^^  CHARLES'S 

ing  for. )  But  ftill  it  may  be  faid,  that  Cromwell  and  his 
adherents  were  not,  properly  fpeaking,  guilty  of  rebellion  ; 
becaufe  he,  whom  they  beheaded  was  not,  properly  fpeak- 
ing, their  king ;  but  a  lawlefs  tyrant.  —  much  Jefs,  are  the 
whole  body  of  the  nation  at  that  time  to  be  charged  with 
rebellion  on  that  account ;  for  it  was  no  national  a5l  ; 
it  was  not  done  by  a  free  parliament.  And  much 
lefs  ftill,  is  the  nation  at  prefent,  to  be  charged  with  the 
great  fin  of  rebellion,  for  what  their  anceftors  did,  (or 
rather  did  NOT)   a  century  ago. 

But  how  came  the  anniverfary  of  king  C6<2r/^j's  death, 

to  be  folemnized   as  a  day  of  falling  and  humiliation  ? 

The  true  anfwer   in  brief,  to  which  inquiry,  is,  that  this 

fail  was  inftituted  by  way  of  court  and  complement  to  king 

Charles   II,    upon  the  rejloration.     All   were  defirous  of 

making  their  court  to  him  \  of  ingratiating  themfelves ; 

and  of  making  him  forget  what  had  been  done  in  oppo- 

fuion   to  his  father^  fo  as  not  to  revenge  it.     To  effedt 

this,  they  ran  into  the  mod  extravagant  profeffions  of 

affeftion  and  loyalty  to  him,   infomuch  that   he  himfclf 

faid,  that  it  was  a  mad  and  hair  brained  loyalty  which 

they  profefTed.    And  amongft  other  ftrange  things,  which 

his   fiift   parliament  did,   they  ordered  the   Thirtieth  of 

'January  (  the  day  on  which  his  father   was  beheaded  )  to 

be  kept  as  a  day  of  folemn  humiliation,  to  deprecate  the 

judgments  of  heaven  for  the   rebellion  which  the  nation 

had  been  guilty  of,  in  that  which  was  no  national  thing  ; 

and  which  was  not  rebellion  in  them  that  did  it — Thus 

they  foothed  and  flattered  their  new  kine;,  at  the  expence 

of 


Saintship  a7ul  Martyrdom.        49 

of  their  liberties :  —  And  were  ready  to  yield  up  freely 
to  Charles  II,  ail  that  enormous  power,  which  they  had 
juftly  refifted  Charles  I,  for  ufurping  to   himfelf. 

The   laft  query    mentioned,   was,  Why  thofe  of  the 
epifcopal  clergy   who  are  very  high   in  the  principles  of 
ecclefiajlical  authority,  continue  to  fpeak  of  this  unhappy 
prince  as  a  great  Saint  and  a  Martyr  ?  This,  we  know,  is 
what  they  conftantly  do,  efpecially   upon   the  30th  of 
January  ;  —  a  day  facred  to  the  extolling  of  him,  and  to 
the  reproaching  of  thofe  who   are  not  of  the   eflablijhed 
church.     Out  of  the  fame   mouth  on  this   day,  proceedeth 
llejfmg  and  curfing  •,    i^    there  with  blefs  they  their  God, 
even  Charles,  and  therewith  curfe  they  the  dilTenters :  And 
their  tongue  can  no  man  tame  •,  it  is  an  unruly   evil,  full 
of  deadly  poifon.     King  Charles  is,  upon  this  folemnity, 
frequently  compared  to  our  Lord  Jefus   Chrift,  both  in 
refpe(5t  of  the  hoUnefs  of  his  life,   and   the  grcatncfs  and 
injudice  of  his  fiifferings  ;  and  it  is  a  wonder  they  do  not 
add  fomething  concerning  the  merits  of  his  death   aUb — ■ 
But  blejfed  faint  and  royal  martyr,  are  as  humble  titles  as 
any  that  are  thought  worthy  of  him. 

Now  this  may,  at  firfb  view,  well  appear  to  be  a  very 
ftrange  phenomenon.  For  king  Charles  was  really  a  man 
black  with  guilt  and  laden  with  iniquity,  \\  as  appears  by 
his  crimes  before- mentioned.  He  liv'd  a  tyrant  ;  and 
it  was  the  opprefiion  and  violence  of  his  reign,  that 
brought  him  to  his  untimely  and  violent  end  at  laft. 
Now  what  of  faintfliip  or  martyrdom  is  there  in  all  this  ! 

•|-   J;.m.   iii.     .^,  9,  10,  Ij    Ifni    i.    4. 

II  What 


50  Of  King  CH  A R L E S's 

What  of  faintfhip  is  there  in  encouraging  people  to  pro- 
fane the  Lord^i  Bay  ?  What  of  faintfhip  in  falfhood 
and  perjury  ?  What  of  faintfhip  in  repeated  robberies 
and  depredations  ?  What  of  faintfhip  in  throwing  real 
faints,  and  glorious  patriots,  into  goals  ?  What  of  faint- 
fhip in  overturning  an  excellent  civil  conftitution  ;— - 
and  proudly  grafping  at  an  illegal  and  monflrous  power  ? 
What  of  faintfhip  in  the  murder  of  thoufands  of  inno- 
cent people  ;  and  involving  a  nation  in  all  the  calamities 
of  a  civil  war  ?  And  what  of  martyrdom  is  there,  in  a 
man's  bringing  an  immature  and  violent  death  upon 
himfelf,  by  being  wicked  overmuch  ?  f.Is  there  any  fuch 
thing  as  grace,  without  goodnefs !  As  being  a  follower 
of  Chrifl,  without  following  him  ?  As  being  his  difciple, 
without  learning  of  him  to  be  jufl  and  beneficent  ?  Or, 
as  faintfhip  without  fanflity  ?  *  If  not,  I  fear  it  will 
be  hard  to  prove  this  man  a  faint.  And  verily  one 
would  be  apt  to  fufped  that  that  church  muft  be  but 

•\-   Ecclef.   vii.   17. 

*  Is  it  any  wonder  that  even  perfons  who,  do  not  ivalk  after  their 
onvii  lujis,  ^Q\i\d  feoff  zl  fuch  faints  as  this,  both  in  ihsfrji  and  \n 
the  laji  days,  even  from  e^erlafiing  to  eijerlafling  F  2  Pet.  iii.  3,4. 
— But  perhaps  it  will  be  faid,  that  thefe  things  are  MYSTERIES, 
which  (  although  very  true  in  themfelves  )  laf-underfiaitdings  can- 
not comprehend  :  Or,  indeed,  any  other  perfons  amongft  us,  be- 
fides  thofe  who  being  INWARDLY  MOVED  BY  THE 
HOLY  GHOST,  have  taken  a  trip  acrofs  the  Jtlantic  to 
obtain  epifccpal  ordination  and  the  i?idelible  charaSIer. —  However, 
if  thefe  conlecrated  gentlemen  do  not  quite  defpair  of  us,  it  is  hoped 
that,  in  the  abundance  of  their  charity,  they  will  endeavour  to 
illucidate  thefe  dark  points ;  and,  at  the  fame  time,  explain  the 
creed  of  another  of  their  eminent  faints,  which  we  are  told,  that 
unlefs  we  believe  faithfully,  (  i.  e.  belie'vingly)  n.ve  cannot  be  fafved: 
which  creed,    (  or  rather  riddle  )  notwithftanding  all  the  labours 

of  the  pious and  metaphyfcal  Dr.  Waterland,  remains  fome- 

what  tvnigmatical  ftijj. 

poorly- 


Saintship  and  Martyrdom.       51 

■poorly  flocked  with  faints  and  martyrs,  which  is  forced  to 
adopt  fuch  enormous  finners  into  her  kalendar,  in  order 
to  fwell  the  number. 

But  to  unravel  this  myflery  of  (  nonfenfe  as  well  as  of) 
iniquity,  which  has  already  worked  for  a  long  time  amongft 
us ;  *  or,  at  leaft,  to  give  the  mod  probable  folution  of 
it  ;  it  is  to  be  remembred,  that  king  Charles,  this 
hurlefque  upon  faintfhip  and  martyrdom,  though  fo  great 
an  oppreffor,  was  a  true  friend  to  the  Church  ♦, — fo  true 
a  friend  to  her,  that  he  was  very  well  affefted  towards 
the  roman  catholics  ;  and  would,  probably,  have  been 
very  willing  to  unite  Lambeth  and  Rome.  This  appears 
by  his  marrying  a  true  daughter  of  that  true  mother  of 
harlots  ;  f  which  he  did  with  a  difpenfation  from  the 
Pope,  that  fupreme  BISHOP  •,  to  whom  when  he  wrote, 
he  gave  the  title  of  MOST  HOLY  FATHER.  His 
queen  was  extremely  bigotted  to  all  the  follies  and 
iuperftitions,  and  to  the  hierarchy,  of  Rome  ;  and  had  a 
prodigious  afcendency  over  him  all  his  life.  It  was,  in 
part,  owing  to  this,  that  he  f  probably)  abetted  the  maf- 
facre  of  the  proteftants  in  Ireland  ;  that  he  afTifted  in 
extirpating  the  french  proteftants  at  Rochelle  •,  that  he 
all  along  encouraged  papifls,  and  popiflily  effefled  cler- 
gymen, in  preference  to  all  other  perfons,  and  that  he 
upheld  that  monfter  of  wickednefs,  ARCH -BISHOP 
LAUD,  and  the  bifliops  of  his  (lamp,  in  all  their  church- 
tyranny  and  diabolical  cruelties.  In  return  to  his  kindnefs 
and  indulgence  in   which  refpefl?,  they  caufed  many  of 

*    2  Their,   ii.    7.         f    Rev.   xvii.    5. 

the 


5 2  Of  King  CH  A PvL E S's 

the  pulpits  throughout  the  nation,  to  ring  with  the  divine 
abfolute,  indefeafible  right  of  kings;  with  the  praifesof 
Qharles  and  his  reign  ;  and  with  the  damnable  fin  of 
refifting  the  Lord's  anointed,  let  hinn  do  what  he  would. 
So  that  not  Cbrift^  but  Charles,  was  commonly  preached 
to  the  people.  —  In  plain  engliJJ:),  there  feems  to  have 
been  an  impious  bargain  ftruck  up  betwixt  the  fcepter 
and  the  furplice,  for  cnflaving  both  the  bodies  and  fouls 
of  men.  The  king  appeared  to  be  v/illing  that  the 
clergy  fliould  do  what  they  would, — (tt  up  a  monftrous 
hierarchy  like  that  of  jRc;;?^, — a  monftrous  inquifition  like' 
that  of  Spain  or  Portugal, — or  any  thing  elfe  which  their 
ovt?n  pride,  and  the  deviPs  malice,  could  prompt  them 
to  :  Provided  always,  that  the  clergy  would  be  tools  to 
the  crown  ;  that  they  would  make  the  people  believe, 
that  kings  had  God's  authority  for  breaking  God's  law  ; 
that  they  had  a  commifiion  from  heaven  to  feize  the 
eftates  and  lives  of  their  fubjeds  at  pleafure  ;  and  that 
it  was  a  damnable  fin  to  refill  them,  even  when  they 
did  fuch  things  as  deJe;ved  more  than  damnation. — 
This  appears  to  be  the  true  key  for  explaining  the  myjle- 
rious  dodlrine  of  king  Charles's  faintfliip  and  martyrdom. 
He  was  a  faint,  not  becaufejie  was  in  his  life,  a  good  many 
but  a  good  churchman  ;  not  becaufe  he  was  a  lover  oi 
holinefs,  but  the  hierarchy  ;  not  becaufe  he  was  a  friend 
to  Chriji,  but  the  Craft.  And  he  was  a  martyr  in  his 
death,  not  becaufe  he  bravely  fuffercd  death  in  the  caufe 
of  truth  and  righteoufnefs,  but  becaufe  he  died  an  enemy 
to  liberty  and  the  rights  of  confcience  ;  i.  e.  not  becaufe 

he  died  an  enemy  to  /»,  but  dijfenters.    For  thefe  rea- 

fons 


SaiKtship  and  Martyrdom.         53 

fons  it  is  that   all  bigotted  clergymen,   and  friends  to 
church-power,  paint  this  man  as  a  faint  in  his  life,  though 
he  was  fuch  a    mighty,  fuch  a  royal  /inner  -,    and  as  a 
martyr  in  his    death,  though  he   fell  a  facrifice  only  to 
his  own  ambition,  avarice,  and  unbounded  lufl:  of  power. 
And  from  proftituting   their  praife  upon  king  Charles, 
and  offering  him  that  incenfe  which  is  not  his  due,  it  is 
natural  for  them   to  make  a  tranfition  to  the   difTenters, 
(as  they  commonly  doj  and  to  load  them   with  that  re- 
proach which  they  do  not  deferve  •,  they  being  generally 
profcHed  enemies  both   to  civil  and  ecclefiaftical  tyranny. 
•WE  are  commonly  charged  (upon  the  Thirtieth  of  Ja- 
nuary) with  the  guilt  of  putting  the  king  to  death,  under 
a  notion   that  it   was   our  anceftors  that  did  it  -,  and  fo 
we  are  reprefented  in  the  blacked  colours,  not  only   as 
fcifmaticks,  but  alfo  as  traitors  and  rebels  and  all  that  is 
bad.     And  thefe  lofty  gentlemen  ufually     rail  upon  this 
head,  in  fuch  a  manner  as   plainly   fliows,  that  they  are 
either  groQy  ignorant  of  the  hiftory  of  thofe  times  which 
they  fpeak  of  -,  or,    which  is  worfe,  that  they  are  guilty 
of  the  moft  fhameful  prevarication,    flanderand  falfliood. 
— But  every  petty  fricfi^  with  a  roll  and  a  gown^  thinks 
he  mull  do  fomcthing  in  imitation  of  his  betters^  in  la'ujn^ 
and  fliovv  himfelf  a  true  fon  of  the  church  :  And  thus, 
through  a  foolifh  ambition  to  appear  confJeraMe^  they 
only  render  themfelves  contemptible. 

But  fuppole  our  fore-fathers  did   kill  their  mock  faint 

and  martyr  a  century  ago,  what  is  that  to  us  now  ?    If  I 

miftake  not,  thefe  gentlemen  generally  preach  down  the 

dodlrine  of  the  imputation  of  Adam's  fin  to  his  pofterity, 

as 


54-         Of  King  CHARLESV 

as  abfurd  and  unreafonable,  notwithftanding  they  have 
folemnly  fubfcribed  what  is  equivalent  to  it  in  their  own 
articles  of  religion.  And  therefore  one  would  hardly  ex- 
pe6l  that  they  would  lay  the  guilt  of  the  king's  death 
upon  us,  altho'  our  fore- fathers  had  been  the  only  authors 
of  it.  But  this  condufl  is  much  more  furprifing,  when  it 
does  not  appear  that  our  anceftors  had  any  more  hand  in 
it  than  their  own.  —  However,  bigotry  is  fufEcient  to  ac- 
count for  this,  and  many  other  phenomena,  which  cannot 
be  accounted  for  in  any  other  way. 

Although  the  obfervatlon  of  this  anniverjary  feems  to 
have  been  (  at  leaft  )  fuperftitious  in  its  original ;  and  al- 
though it  is  often  abufed  to  very  bad  purpofes  by  the  efta- 
bliflied  clergy,  as  they  ferve  themfelves  of  it,  to  perpetuate 
ftrife,  a  party  fpirit,  and  divifions  in  the  chriftian  church  ; 
yet  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  one  good  end  will  be  anfwered 
by  it,  quite  contrary  to  their  intention  :  It  is  to  be  hoped, 
that  it  will  prove  a  {landing  memento,  that  Britons  will  not 
htflaves  •,  and  a  warning  to  all  corrupt  councellors  and 
minijlers,  not  to  go  too  far  in  advifing  to  arbitrary,  def- 
potic  meafures  — — 

To  conclude :  Let  us  all  learn  to  be  free,  and  to  be 
loyal.  Let  us  not  profefs  ourfelves  vaflals  to  the  lawlefs 
pleafure  of  any  man  on  earth.  But  let  us  remember,  at 
the  fame  time,  government  \s  facred,  and  not  to  be  trifled 
with.  It  is  our  happinefs  to  live  under  the  government  of 
a  PRINCE  who  is  fatisfied  with  ruling  according  to  law ; 
as  every  other  good  prince  will  —  We  enjoy  under  his  ad- 
miniftration  all  the   Uberty  that  is  proper  and    expedient 

for 


Saintship  ^W  Martyrdom.        55 

for  us.  It  becomes  us,  therefore,  to  be  contented,  and 
dutiful  fubjefts.  Let  us  prize  our  freedom  ;  but  not 
ufe  our  liberty  for  a  cloke  of  malicioufnefs.  -}-  There  are 
men  who  ftrike  at  liberty  under  the  term  licentioufnefs. 
There  are  others  who  aim  at  popularity  under  the  dif- 
guife  of  patriotifm.  Be  aware  of  both.  Extremes  are 
dangerous.  There  is  at  prefent  amongft  us,  perhaps, 
more  danger  of  the  latter,  than  of  the  former.  For 
which  reafon  I  would  exhort  you  to  pay  all  due  Regard 
to  the  government  over  us  j  to  the  KING  and  all  ia 
authority  ;  and  to  lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life.  \.  — 
And  while  I  am  fpeaking  of  loyalty  to  our  earthly  Prince, 
fuffer  me  juft  to  put  you  in  mind  to  be  loyal  alfo  to 
the  fupreme  RULER  of  the  univerfe,  by  whom  kings 
reign',  and  princes  decree  juflice.  *  To  which  king  eter- 
nal immortal,  invifible,  even  to  the  ONLY  WISE 
GOD,  n  be  all  honor  and  praife,  DOMINION  and 
thankfgiving,  through  JESUS  CHRIST  our  LpRD. 
AMEN. 

-f-    I    Pet.  ii.     16.         4-    '    Tim.    ii.  z.         *    Prov.   viii.   15. 
11   1   Tim.  i.    17. 

FINIS. 


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